Dairy product and process

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to methods of making flavour concentrates, in particular lipid, condensed and solids flavour concentrates, together with the flavour concentrates produced thereby. The flavour concentrates produced by the methods of the present invention have improved flavour and other characteristics and have wide application in the production of foods and beverages.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/667,946 filed on Mar. 9, 2010, which is a National PhaseApplication of International Application PCT/NZ2008/000168, filed Jul.14, 2008, and claims priority to New Zealand Patent Application number556528 filed on Jul. 13, 2007. Each of the priority applications ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of making lipid, condensed andsolids flavour concentrates with improved flavour characteristics andthe products thereof.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Butter has long been used in cooking for enhancement of flavour. Othercream or butter-derived milkfat products, such as Anhydrous milkfat(AMF), butter-oil (BO), clarified butter, Beurre noir, Beurre-Noisetteand ghee, have long been known and are used to impart a flavour to afood being prepared. The flavour characteristics of these milkfatproducts are frequently deemed by consumers to be superior to those ofother oils and fats. When compared with butter, AMF, BO and clarifiedbutter, the flavour and aroma profiles of traditional Ghee, Beurre noirand Beurre-Noisette are more intense and have flavours and aromas thatare more like those derived from cooking of food.

Traditional ghee is made by heating a water-containing lipid materialsuch as butter or cream in an open pan to boil off the water followed byseparation of the fat phase (the ghee) from the solids-not-fat phase.Butter is most commonly used in the preparation of ghees. Beurre noirand beurre-noisette are similar products used in French cuisine.Traditional ghee, beurre noir and beurre-noisette are valued for theintense flavours they impart when used in cooking, relative to othermilkfat products. However, they are commonly produced on a small scale(typically in the kitchen or by cottage industry), as the fouling ofheating surfaces with solids-not-fat that occurs during heating of creamhas been an unresolved obstacle to industrial-scale manufacture. Inaddition, overheating of the product causes undesirable flavours andcontrol of the heating process and the end point is difficult, such thatprocesses to date have been unable to produce products with consistentcharacteristics. These factors have all acted to inhibitindustrial-scale manufacture. As a result, much of the commerciallyavailable ghee is simply AMF or BO that lacks the intense flavour thatmakes traditional ghee, beurre noir and beurre-noisette so desirable.

Wadhwa, Bindal and Jain (“Simulation of ghee flavour in butter oil”(1977). Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 30:4; 314-318) recognise thepoor flavour of imitation ghee products prepared from AMF or butter oil,and disclose the simulation of traditional ghee flavour in BO by firstmixing BO with 5% cultured skim milk powder (spray dried dahi) and thenheating the mixture to 120° C. for 3 minutes to obtain a caramelisedflavour in the product similar to that of traditional desi ghee.Similarly mixing 20% dahi with the BO and heating to 120° C. for 3minutes is also described as a means mimicking desi ghee flavour.

Wadhwa and Jain (“Production of ghee from butter oil—A review” (1991),Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 44:6; 372-374) report methods ofproducing ghee from butter oil. One such method reported is to add dahito BO, mixing, and then heat the mixture at 120° C. for 3 minutes. Analternate method reported therein involves the addition of ghee residue(fat, protein, water and ash) to the heated dahi-BO mix. The flavoursproduced by these methods were stated to be “strong to mild curdy”,“strong to mild cooked”, “strong curdy+mild cooked”, “mild curdy+mildcooked”, “mild curdy+strong cooked” and “strong curdy+strong cooked”.

Milkfat contains high levels of saturated fat. Therefore, butter, AMF,BO, clarified butter, beurre noir, beurre-noisette and ghee contributesignificant amounts of saturated fat to the diet as well as being highin fat. The American Heart Association recommends choosing dishesprepared without ghee (see http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1097) and nutritional guidelines commonly recommend areduction in total and saturated fat intakes. However, removing buttersand clarified butters from foods can cause the foods to lose theiressential ethnic flavour and aroma characteristics and a general loss inflavour and aroma. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a fatbased flavour concentrate with improved flavour characteristics that canbe used in smaller quantities than traditional butters and clarifiedbutters to improve the nutritional properties of the food in which it isused without a loss of flavour or aroma. Furthermore, good quality gheeis expensive compared to presently-available imitations. It would bedesirable to provide cost-effective alternatives to high quality ghee,preferably without sacrificing desired flavour characteristics.

It is an object of the present invention to provide one or more flavourconcentrates with improved flavour characteristics or to at leastprovide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the invention relates to a method of making a flavourconcentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) providing a lipid material,-   (2) providing an aqueous material, the aqueous material comprising    one or more sugars and one or more primary or secondary amines,-   (3) heating the lipid material to a first temperature at or above    the boiling point of the aqueous material,-   (4) admixing the heated lipid material and the aqueous material, and-   (5) maintaining the mixture for a period at a temperature at least    until substantially all the water present in the aqueous material is    vapourised.

In one embodiment, the method additionally comprises after step (5) thestep:

-   (6) maintaining the mixture for a second period at a second    temperature that is different to the first temperature.

In various embodiments, the temperature at which the mixture ismaintained in step (5) is at or about the first temperature, or isanother temperature below or above the first temperature.

In various embodiments, the second temperature is higher than the firsttemperature, or is higher than the temperature at which the mixture ismaintained in step (5), or is higher than both the first temperature andthe temperature at which the mixture is maintained in step (5). In otherembodiments, the second temperature is lower than the first temperature,or is lower than the temperature at which the mixture is maintained instep (5), or is lower than both the first temperature and thetemperature at which the mixture is maintained in step (5).

In preferred embodiments, the aqueous material is heated, preferably ator to at least about 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 or about95 degrees Celsius and useful ranges may be selected between any ofthese forgoing values (for example, from about 40 to about 70 degreesCelsius).

In preferred embodiments, the method additionally comprises after step(5) or preferably after step (6) one or more of the following optionalsteps:

-   (7) the mixture is cooled,-   (8) the mixture is passed through a separation device to remove    solid matter,-   (9) the mixture is packaged.

In various embodiments, the lipid material comprises, consistsessentially of or consists of an edible oil, an animal fat, a dairy fat,a milkfat, a modified edible oil, a modified animal fat, a modifieddairy fat, a modified milkfat, or any mixture thereof.

Preferably, the aqueous material contains one or more primary orsecondary amines that are present as one or more amino acids, morepreferably as one or more peptides or one or more proteins.

In certain embodiments the aqueous material may additionally compriseone or more lipids. Preferably, the aqueous material comprises, consistsessentially of or consists of a dairy material or a modified dairymaterial or a fermentate, and may contain a significant proportion oflipid dispersed within it.

Preferably, the aqueous material is uncooked aqueous material.

Preferably, the aqueous material is a liquid aqueous material.Preferably the aqueous material is an oil-in-water emulsion or awater-in-oil emulsion.

In some embodiments, the admixing is in a closeable vessel or system. Inother embodiments, the admixing is in an open vessel, or is performed ina closed vessel and the mixture is discharged into an open vessel.

In one embodiment, the admixing is at greater than ambient pressure. Inanother embodiment, the admixing is at lower than ambient pressure.

In one embodiment, the maintaining of step (5) is at greater thanambient pressure. In another embodiment, the maintaining of step (5) isat lower than ambient pressure. In another embodiment, the maintainingof step (5) is at lower pressure than that at which the admixing of step(4) is performed.

Preferably the admixing is performed at or near the first temperature.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a method of making aflavour concentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) heating a lipid material to a first temperature,-   (2) adding an aqueous material to the heated lipid material to form    a mixture, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars and    one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids, the first    temperature being above the boiling point of the aqueous material,    and-   (3) maintaining the heated mixture in a vessel whereupon the    majority of the water in the mixture is vapourised, and-   (4) heating the mixture to a second temperature that is higher than    the first temperature, and-   (5) maintaining the mixture at the second temperature for at least    about 1 second.

Preferably, the pressure in the vessel in which the material ismaintained in step (3) is maintained by extracting the vapour.

In another aspect the invention relates to a method of making a flavourconcentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) heating a lipid material to a first temperature of at least    about 100° C.,-   (2) adding an aqueous material to the heated lipid material to form    a mixture, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars and    one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids,-   (3) vapourising the majority of the water in the mixture, and-   (4) heating the mixture to a second temperature for at least about 1    second, wherein the second temperature is different to the first    temperature.

Preferably, the method comprises the additional step

-   (5) cooling the recovered mixture to a convenient temperature.

In another aspect the invention relates to a method of making acondensed flavour concentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) heating a lipid material to a first temperature, the lipid    material being substantially free of protein or water or both    protein and water,-   (2) adding an aqueous material to the heated lipid material to form    a mixture, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars and    one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids, the first    temperature being above the boiling point of the aqueous material,    wherein at least some of the water present in the aqueous material    is vapourised,-   (3) extracting the vapour produced in step (2) and-   (4) condensing the vapour to form a condensed flavour concentrate.

Preferably, the method comprises the additional step

-   (5) maintaining the recovered lipid mixture at a convenient    temperature.

In one embodiment the method comprises the additional step before step(3) of

-   (2a) introducing the heated mixture into a vessel whereupon the    majority of the water in the mixture is vapourised.

In another aspect the invention relates to a method of making a solidsflavour concentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) providing a lipid material,-   (2) providing an aqueous material, the aqueous material comprising    one or more sugars and one or more free amine groups,-   (3) heating the lipid material to a first temperature at or above    the boiling point of the aqueous material,-   (4) admixing the heated lipid material and the aqueous material,-   (5) maintaining the mixture for a period at a temperature at least    until substantially all the water present in the aqueous material is    vapourised,-   (6) separating the solids from the mixture to form the solids    flavour concentrate.

In one embodiment, the method additionally comprises after step (5) oneor more of the following optional steps:

-   -   5a) maintaining the mixture for a second period at a second        temperature that is different to the first temperature,    -   5b) cooling the mixture.

In another aspect the invention relates to a flavour concentratesproduced by a method of the invention.

Preferably, the flavour concentrates comprises one or more flavourcharacteristics selected from toffee flavour, butterscotch flavour,baked biscuit flavour, caramel flavour, and malt flavour, flavoursassociated with roasted nuts, heated/roasted popcorn, fried potatochips, baked unleavened breads, flavours associated with roasted meat,blue cheese or cooked pizza.

In another aspect the invention relates to a flavour concentratecomprising, consisting essentially of or consisting of a cooked mixtureof a lipid material and an aqueous material, wherein

-   -   the lipid material is selected from one or more dairy fats, one        or more dairy oils, one or more animal fats, one or more animal        oils, one or more vegetable fats, or one or more vegetable oils,        and any combination thereof,    -   the aqueous material comprises one or more sugars and one or        more free amine groups, and optionally one or more lipids, and    -   the composition comprises at least one of the compounds selected        from the group consisting of        -   1-100 μg/g furfural,        -   0.1-10 μg/g 3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-ene-2,5-dione [DHHD]        -   5-100 μg/g maltol,        -   0.1-10 μg/g furaneol,        -   2-30 μg/g acetol,        -   1-5 μg/g pentan-2-one,        -   1-80 μg/g heptan-2-one,        -   0.5-100 μg/g 3-methylbutanal, or        -   0-10 μg/g 2-methylbutanal.

In various embodiments, the composition comprises two or more, three ormore, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, eight ormore, or all nine of the above compounds.

In one example, the composition comprises

1-100 μg/g furfural, and

0.1-10 μg/g 3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-ene-2,5-dione [DHHD].

In another example, the composition comprises

1-100 μg/g furfural and

5-100 μg/g maltol.

In another example, the composition comprises

5-100 μg/g maltol,

0.1-10 μg/g furaneol, and

0.5-100 μg/g 3-methylbutanal.

As will be appreciated, each of the 9! possible permutations orcombinations of the above compounds are expressly contemplated as ifindividually set forth herein.

Any of the embodiments described herein may relate to any of the aboveaspects.

In various embodiments the lipid material is substantially free ofprotein or water or both protein and water. In one embodiment the lipidmaterial is substantially anhydrous. In one embodiment the lipidmaterial comprises one or more fats or one or more oils or combinationsthereof. In one embodiment the lipid material is selected from one ormore dairy fats including milk fat, one or more animal fats, one or morevegetable fats, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment the lipidmaterial comprises at least about 80% to at least about 99%triglycerides, for example at least about 85, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95,96, 97, 98 or at least about 99% triglycerides, and useful ranges may beselected between any of these forgoing values (for example, about 85% toabout 99%, about 90% to about 99%, about 91% to about 99%, about 92% toabout 99%, about 93% to about 99%, about 94% to about 99%, about 95% toabout 99%, about 96% to about 99%, about 97% to about 99%, and fromabout 82% to about 92% triglycerides). In one embodiment the lipidmaterial is substantially free of protein. In one embodiment the lipidmaterial is substantially anhydrous. Preferably the lipid material issourced from any one or more of anhydrous milk fat, butter oil, tallow,lard, or vegetable oils. Suitable vegetable oils include oils derivedfrom almond, amaranth, apricot, artichoke, babassu, ben, borneo tallownut, bottle gourd, borage seed, buffalo gourd, canola, carob pod,cashew, cocoa, coconut, corn, cottonseed, evening primrose, flaxseed,grape seed, hazelnut, hemp, kapok seed, mustard, olive, palm, peanut,pine nut, poppy seed, pumpkin seed, safflower, sesame, soybean,sunflower, walnut, wheat germ oils, rice bran, legumes and avocado. Inone embodiment the lipid material is sourced from a marine oil, forexample a marine oil selected from shellfish oils, fish oils, andcombinations thereof. In one embodiment the fish oil is selected fromanchovy, baikal, bloater, cacha, carp, eel, eulachon, herring, Hoki(Macruronus novaezelandiae), hilsa, jack fish, katla, kipper, mackerel,orange roughy, pangas, pilchard, black cod, salmon, sardine, shark,sprat, trout, tuna, whitebait, and swordfish oils, and combinations ofany two or more thereof. In one embodiment the oil is a winterised oil.

Suitable sources of lipids can be obtained from plant, animal and dairysources, including but not limited to, seeds and grains, animal tissues,dairy, cream and whey sources. Such sources of lipid materials may bemodified or refined for edible use by a variety of means known in theart of fats and oils processing, including centrifugal separation anddecanting, solvent extraction, chemical modification e.g. catalytictreatment with hydrogen, fractionation on the basis of melting point anddistillation. Lipid fractions with a high melting point are often knownas hard fractions and low melting point fractions are known as softfractions. Intermediate fractions are also known. Fats and oils preparedby blending selected lipid stocks and fractions are also known and areuseful for the practise of this invention. The aqueous materialcomprises one or more sugars and one or more free amine groups. In oneembodiment the aqueous material is selected or derived from soy beanmilk, soy bean protein, or from a reconstituted, recombined, fermentedor fresh dairy material e.g. recombined or fresh whole milk, recombinedor fresh skim milk, reconstituted whole milk powder, reconstituted skimmilk powder, skim milk concentrate, skim milk retentate, concentratedmilk, cultured milk, yoghurt, kefir, ultrafiltered milk retentate, milkprotein concentrate (MPC), milk protein isolate (MPI), calcium depletedmilk protein concentrate (MPC), low fat milk, low fat milk proteinconcentrate (MPC), casein, caseinate, cream, cultured cream, buttermilk, butter serum, a dairy fermentate, whey, whey cream, whey proteinconcentrate (WPC), or cultured whey cream. In one embodiment, the aminecontent, or the sugar content, or both the amine content and the sugarcontent, of the aqueous material may be augmented, for example by theaddition of compounds or sources of compounds with one or more aminegroups, or one or more sugars, or both.

In one embodiment the aqueous material is selected from legume, cereal,seed, nut, fruit, or vegetable extracts, recombined or fresh whole milk,recombined or fresh skim milk, reconstituted whole milk powder,reconstituted skim milk powder, cultured milk, yoghurt, kefir, milk fat,cream, whey cream, cultured cream, and combinations thereof. In oneembodiment the aqueous material is a cultured material such as acultured milk or cultured cream. Preferably the culture source is afermentate produced using acid producing bacteria e.g. a yoghurt. Morepreferably the culture consists of one or more, two or more, or three ormore cultures. Other fermentations may use organisms such as yeasts ormoulds and other bacteria. Other animal- or micro-organism-derivedaqueous materials are also contemplated.

Preferably, when the aqueous material is a cultured material, forexample a cultured cream, the aqueous material comprises at least about10% (w/w) lipid, preferably the aqueous material comprises from at leastabout 10% (w/w) to about 80% (w/w) lipid, more preferably the aqueousmaterial comprises from at least about 10% (w/w) to about 80% (w/w)lipid, for example at least about 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48or at least about 50% (w/w) lipid, and useful ranges may be selectedbetween any of these forgoing values (for example, from about 22% toabout 42% (w/w) lipid.

In various embodiments the methods of the present invention produce amilkfat concentrate having flavour characteristics selected from any oneor more of toffee flavour, butterscotch flavour, baked biscuit flavour,caramel flavour, and malt flavour, flavours associated with roastednuts, heated/roasted popcorn, fried potato chips, baked unleavenedbreads, flavours associated with roasted meat or cooked pizza.

In one embodiment the method produces a concentrate having a desiredflavour chemical profile, more preferably a chemical profile asdescribed herein, for example with reference to Table 1.

In one embodiment the aqueous material is an uncooked aqueous material.

In one embodiment the first temperature is above the boiling point ofthe aqueous material—i.e., the boiling point of the aqueous material atthe pressure at which the admixing is performed. In one embodiment thelipid material is heated to a first temperature of at least about 100 toabout 180 degrees Celsius, for example at least about 100, 105, 110,115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175 or about180 degrees Celsius and useful ranges may be selected between any ofthese forgoing values (for example, from about 100 to about 140, about100 to about 160 or about 100 to about 170 degrees Celsius). Preferablythe lipid material is heated to 110-145° C. and more preferablyapproximately 135° C.

In some embodiments, the admixing is performed at a rate, for example ata rate of addition of aqueous material to lipid material such that themajority of the moisture in the mixture is vapourised during admixing.For example, the rate of admixing or the ratio of lipid material toaqueous material is adjusted according to the first temperature, andoptionally the temperature of the aqueous material. In otherembodiments, the vapourisation of substantially all of the moisture isadditionally achieved during the maintaining step following admixing.

In one embodiment the mixture is maintained at or about the firsttemperature at least until substantially all the water is vapourised. Inanother embodiment the mixture is maintained at another temperature atleast until substantially all the water is vapourised.

In one embodiment, when the mixture is maintained at another temperatureat least until substantially all the water is vapourised, thetemperature is at least about 100 to about 180 degrees Celsius, forexample at least about 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145,150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175 or about 180 degrees Celsius and usefulranges may be selected between any of these forgoing values (forexample, from about 100 to about 140, about 100 to about 160 or about100 to about 170 degrees Celsius).

In one embodiment, when the mixture is maintained at or about the firsttemperature or at another temperature, the mixture is maintained at alower pressure than the pressure at which the admixing is performed. Forexample, the mixture is discharged into a vessel maintained at lowerpressure than the pressure at which admixing is performed.

In one embodiment, the mixture is maintained at or about the firsttemperature or at another temperature for at least about 1 minute, about2 minutes, about 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16 17 1819, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 minutes, and useful ranges maybe selected between any of these forgoing values (for example, about 1to about 20 minutes, about 1 to about 30 minutes, about 1 to about 40minutes, about 1 to about 50 minutes, and about 1 to about 60 minutes).

In one embodiment, the mixture is maintained at or about the firsttemperature or at another temperature for about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50,55, or 60 minutes after substantially all the water is vapourised, anduseful ranges may be selected between any of these forgoing values (forexample, about 1 to about 20 minutes, about 1 to about 30 minutes, about1 to about 40 minutes, about 1 to about 50 minutes, and about 1 to about60 minutes).

In other embodiments, when substantially all the water is vapourised,the mixture is maintained at a second temperature. In one embodiment,the second temperature is lower that the first temperature, or lowerthan the temperature at which the mixture is maintained at least untilsubstantially all the water is vapourised. Preferably the secondtemperature is higher than the first temperature. Preferably the secondtemperature is higher than the temperature at which the mixture ismaintained at least until substantially all the water is vapourised.

In one embodiment the second temperature is at least about 105, 110,115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155 or 160 degrees Celsius, anduseful ranges may be selected between any of these forgoing values.Preferably the second temperature is about 120-140° C., more preferablyabout 130 to 140° C., and more preferably about 135° C.

In one embodiment, the mixture is maintained at the second temperaturefor at least about 1 second, about 10 seconds, 20, about 30 seconds,about 1 minute, about 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 minutes, anduseful ranges may be selected between any of these forgoing values (forexample, about 1 to about 20 minutes, about 1 to about 30 minutes, about1 to about 40 minutes, about 1 to about 50 minutes, and about 1 to about60 minutes).

In one embodiment, the mixture is heated at the second temperature forabout 10 to 20 minutes, and more preferably for about 12 to 15 minutes.

In other embodiments, such as those where the first or secondtemperature is lower, for example about 105 to 115° C., the mixture isheated for about 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 minutes, anduseful ranges may be selected between any of these forgoing values.

In one embodiment the method further comprises a step to remove solidmatter from the heat treated mixture. Any convenient device may be used.Preferably a separation step, such as a filtration step or a clarifyingstep or both, is included after mixing or after heating of the mixture.Devices suitable for use in such a separation step, such as centrifuges,decanters or membrane filters, are well known in the art and arecontemplated for use in the methods of the present invention.

In another aspect the invention relates to a composition formed from anyof the methods described above. Expressly contemplated are concentratesformed by the condensation of vapour produced by the admixture of thelipid material and the aqueous material, or the admixture of an aqueousmaterial and the mixture, or by the subsequent vapourisation or heatingof these mixtures. Also expressly contemplated are solids flavourconcentrates formed by the admixture of the lipid material and theaqueous material, or the admixture of an aqueous material and themixture, or by the subsequent heating of these mixtures as describedherein.

In another aspect the invention relates to use of one or more of thecompositions described above as a flavouring agent in a food. In anotheraspect the invention relates to a food comprising a flavour concentratedescribed above.

Expressly contemplated is the use of one or more of the flavourconcentrates or compositions comprising one or more flavour concentratesas described herein as a flavouring agent in chocolate or confectionery.In another embodiment, the invention relates to chocolate orconfectionery comprising a flavour concentrate described above. Forexample, in one specifically contemplated embodiment, the inventionrelates to chocolate or confectionery comprising a flavour concentrate,a condensed flavour concentrate, a solids flavour concentrate, asdescribed herein, or any combination of two or more of these flavourconcentrates.

In another embodiment, the invention relates to the use of a flavourconcentrate as described herein, for example the lipid flavourconcentrate, in a nougat. In one embodiment, the nougat comprises partof a confectionery bar, while in another embodiment the nougat is anindividual confectionery. In a related specifically contemplatedembodiment, a flavour concentrate, a condensed flavour concentrate, asolids flavour concentrate, as described herein, or any combination oftwo or more of these flavour concentrates can be added to othercomponents (including, for example caramel) comprising a multi-componentconfectionery bar, a single component confectionery or a multi-componentconfectionery.

Other aspects of the invention may become apparent from the followingdescription which is given by way of example only.

It is intended that reference to a range of numbers disclosed herein(for example, 1 to 10) also incorporates reference to all rationalnumbers within that range (for example, 1, 1.1, 2, 3, 3.9, 4, 5, 6, 6.5,7, 8, 9 and 10) and also any range of rational numbers within that range(for example, 2 to 8, 1.5 to 5.5 and 3.1 to 4.7). It will therefore beapparent that specified numeric ranges denote parameters spanningcontinuous regions of applicability for the practice of the invention.

In this specification where reference has been made to patentspecifications, other external documents, or other sources ofinformation, this is generally for the purpose of providing a contextfor discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically statedotherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construedas an admission that such documents, or such sources of information, inany jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common generalknowledge in the art.

This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts,elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification ofthe application, individually or collectively, and any or allcombinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, andwhere specific integers are mentioned herein which have knownequivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such knownequivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually setforth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic flow diagram of the method of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary production method ofthe invention using batch processing. The vessel (1) is heated and thecontents are stirred using an agitator (2). A quantity of lipid material(3) is placed in the vessel and stirred and heated to a firsttemperature, preferably above 100° C. When this temperature is reached,aqueous material, for example cream, is introduced through inlet (4)using a positive pump. The water-soluble volatiles that are evaporatedwith the steam exit through aperture (5). The rate of boil-off from thevessel may be assisted by application of a vacuum to aperture (5), andthe volatiles may be collected by condensing the distillate. When allthe aqueous material has been added to the vessel, the heating iscontinued until there is minimal evidence of steam. The vessel contentsare then cooled by introduction of water into the vessel jacket (7) to atemperature (preferably 45-60° C.) that allows the mixture to be handledthrough standard pumps and filters. The contents are then removed fromthe vessel via a product outlet (6).

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary production method ofthe invention using batch processing with an external heater. The vessel(1) holds lipid material (for example, AMF) (2) that is heated byexternal circulation using pump (3) through heat exchangers (9) to atemperature of 100° C.-170° C. At that temperature, aqueous material(for example, cream) (6 a) is introduced into the circuit after the heatexchangers via pump (7 a) and valve (4 a) positioned close to aback-pressure valve (5) set to give a pressure between 100 and 600 kPa.Alternatively the aqueous material (6 b) may be introduced before theexternal heat exchangers via pump (7 b) and valve (4 b). In thisalternative the back-pressure valve (5) remains in place and is set tothe same pressure range as before. The product may be removed fordownstream applications, cooling or packaging as required through theproduct outlet (8), or returned for further processing via the productcirculation return (10). Volatiles may be removed via a volatiles outlet(11), these can either be condensed for use or to be discarded. Serviceheating and cooling (steam or water) exits via service outlet (14). Theheat source introduced into the heat exchanger at the heat inlet (13)will typically be steam, but will depend on the plant setup. A plantdrain (12) is provided for convenience, for example for cleaning andmaintenance.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary production method ofthe invention, again using batch processing with an external heater. Thevessel (1) holds lipid material (2) that is heated by externalcirculation using pump (3) through heat exchangers (9) to a temperatureof about 135° C. Aqueous material (6) is heated in a heater (17) andintroduced into the circuit after the heat exchangers via pump (7) andvalve (4 a) positioned close to a back-pressure valve (5) set to give apressure between 200 and 300 kPa. Alternatively the aqueous material maybe introduced before the external heat exchangers via valve (4 b). Theproduct may be removed for downstream applications, cooling or packagingas required through the product outlet (8), or returned for furtherprocessing via the product circulation return (10). Volatiles may beremoved via a volatiles outlet (11), while condensates may be recoveredusing a condenser (20) to yield a condensed flavour concentrate (21) ormay be discarded. Service heating (in this case water) exits via serviceoutlet (14) and is usefully recycled. In this embodiment, the heatsource introduced into the heat exchanger is high pressure heated water(22) heated in a high pressure water heater (23) through theintroduction of steam (13). A plant drain (12) is also provided,particularly for convenience of for example, cleaning and maintenance.

FIG. 5 shows mean flavour intensities for milk chocolate with eitherStandard WMP, caramelised WMP (confectionary WMP) or 2% exemplaryflavour composition 300 addition in place of caramelised WMP.

FIG. 6 shows MDS dimensions 1 and 2 for milk chocolate samples withvectors from attribute ratings showing significant milk chocolatedifferentiation projected into the MDS space.

FIG. 7 shows trained panel descriptive analysis of exemplary flavourcomposition 300-AMF mixtures (n=8).

FIG. 8 shows consumer sensory profiles of milk chocolate samples (fullscale 0-150, n=42).

FIG. 9 shows consumer perception of caramel flavour in Brand A, and inBrand A with the addition of exemplary flavour concentrates of theinvention (n=42).

FIG. 10 shows consumer perception of bitterness in Brand A, and in BrandA with the addition of exemplary flavour concentrates of the invention(n=42).

FIG. 11 shows a sample of a Consumer Questionnaire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Definitions

The term “comprising” as used in this specification means “consisting atleast in part of”. When interpreting statements in this specificationwhich include that term, the features, prefaced by that term in eachstatement, all need to be present but other features can also bepresent. Related terms such as “comprise” and “comprised” are to beinterpreted in the same manner.

As used herein the term “aqueous material” means any material withmoisture content above 10%.

As used herein the term “uncooked aqueous material” includes anymaterial that is pasteurised or has undergone ultra-heat treatment (UHT)but is otherwise not heat treated for the purpose of generatingflavours.

It should be apparent that for the purposes of the present invention,uncooked aqueous material may be heated immediately prior to admixturewithout being considered cooked.

As used herein the terms “lipid”, “fat” and “oil” and respective pluralsthereof are essentially interchangeable and refer to edible substancescomposed largely (greater than about 80%) of triglycerides selected orderived from any one or more of vegetable, animal, or dairy sources, orcombinations thereof.

“Ghee” denotes a traditional product derived from milk used extensivelyacross the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent since ancient timesand is prepared historically by heating milk fat, butter or cream in avessel over an open fire. Ghee is an international commodity with alabel of identity given by CODEX STAN A-2-1973 (amended 2006) availableat http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/171/CXS_A02e.pdf.

The terms “anhydrous milk fat”, “anhydrous butter oil” and “butter oil”are used interchangeably herein and refer to the milk fat fractionproduced by phase inversion and concentration of cream, or from meltedbutter and are also classified under CODEX STAN A-2-1973. Milk fat maybe any mammalian milk fat including but not limited to bovine, sheep,goat, pig, mouse, water buffalo, camel, yak, horse, donkey, llama orhuman milk fat, with bovine milk fat being a preferred source. Methodscommonly used for the preparation of AMF are disclosed in Bylund, G.(Ed.) Dairy processing handbook. 1995 Tetra Pak Processing Systems AB,S-221 86 Lund, Sweden.), incorporated herein in its entirety. Fats andoils generally comprise a mixture of triglycerides which may beseparated by various known processes, more particularly, by methodsrelying on their different melting points. Portions with a high meltingpoint are often termed “hard fraction” and the low melting pointfraction termed “soft fraction” etc. Intermediate fractions and blendsof fractions are known. The chemistry of triglycerides is well known andthe associated fatty acids may have zero (unsaturated), one(mono-unsaturated) or multiple (poly unsaturated) “double bonds” intheir molecules. A standard nomenclature well known in the art is usedto denote the number and location of double bonds in the fatty acidmolecules.

As used herein, the term “flavour” contemplates the sensory impressionof a food or other substance, and is primarily determined by the sensesof taste and smell. Accordingly, the term “flavour” should be consideredto includes aroma, smell, odour and the like.

2. Method of Producing Flavour Concentrates

Milkfat and vegetable oils are often used in spreads and as condiments,as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, andfrying. As a result, these lipids are consumed daily in many parts ofthe world.

The present invention is directed towards flavour concentrates,particularly a milkfat concentrate that has excellent flavourcharacteristics. This allows addition of the milkfat concentrate to foodat lower amounts than normal milkfat products, while still imparting thedesired flavour characteristics, or alternatively allows enhancedflavour to be imparted when the milkfat concentrate is used in similaramounts as normal milkfat products.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present inventors have found that a flavourconcentrate can be produced by the following steps:

-   (1) providing a lipid material,-   (2) providing an aqueous material, the aqueous material comprising    one or more sugars and one or more free amine groups,-   (3) heating the lipid material to a first temperature at or above    the boiling point of the aqueous material,-   (4) admixing the heated lipid material and the aqueous material, and-   (5) maintaining the mixture for a period at a temperature at least    until substantially all the water present in the aqueous material is    vapourised.

In one embodiment, the method additionally comprises after step (5) thestep:

-   (6) maintaining the mixture for a second period at a second    temperature that is different to the first temperature.

In various embodiments, the temperature at which the mixture ismaintained in step (5) is below, at or above the first temperature.

In preferred embodiments, the method additionally comprises after step(5) or preferably after step (6) one or more of the following optionalsteps:

-   (7) the mixture is cooled,-   (8) the mixture is passed through a separation device to remove    solid matter,-   (9) the mixture is packaged.

In another aspect, the invention provides a method of making a flavourconcentrate comprising the following steps:

-   (1) heating a lipid material to a first temperature of at least    about 100° C.,-   (2) adding an aqueous material to the heated lipid material to form    a mixture, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars and    one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids,-   (3) vapourising the majority of the water in the mixture, and-   (4) heating the mixture to a second temperature for at least about 1    second, wherein the second temperature is different to the first    temperature.

Preferably, the method comprises the additional step

-   (5) cooling the recovered lipid material to a convenient    temperature.

In a preferred embodiment, the method additionally comprises after step(4) or preferably after step (5) one or more of the following optionalsteps:

-   (6) the mixture is passed through a separation device to remove    solid matter,-   (7) the mixture is packaged.

In another aspect, the invention provides a method of making a flavourconcentrate, the method comprising the following steps:

-   (1) heating a lipid material to a first temperature,-   (2) adding an aqueous material to the heated lipid material to form    a mixture, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars and    one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids, the first    temperature being above the boiling point of the aqueous material,    and-   (3) maintaining the heated mixture in a vessel whereupon the    majority of the water in the mixture is vapourised, and-   (4) heating the mixture to a second temperature that is higher than    the first temperature, and-   (5) maintaining the mixture at the second temperature for at least    about 1 second.

Preferably, between about 1% to 200% (w/w) aqueous material relative tolipid material is added, more preferably about 10% to about 200% (w/w),about 20% to about 150% (w/w), about 20% to about 120% (w/w), about 20%to about 100% (w/w) aqueous material relative to lipid material isadded, or about 25% to about 80% (w/w) aqueous material relative tolipid material is added.

It will be appreciated that rate at which the aqueous material and lipidmaterial are admixed will depend on, among other considerations, theirrelative temperatures, volumes, and the nature of the processing plantused for production of the flavour concentrate. For example, in someembodiments, preferably batch processing embodiments, the aqueousmaterial is added at rate of between about 1% to 200% (w/w) relative tolipid material per hour, more preferably at about 10% to about 200%(w/w), about 20% to about 150% (w/w), about 20% to about 120% (w/w),about 20% to about 100% (w/w), or about 25% to about 80% (w/w) per hour,more preferably at about 100% (w/w) relative to lipid material per hour.In other embodiments, preferably continuous processing embodiments, theaqueous material is added at rate of between about 0.01% to 50% (w/w)relative to circulating lipid material per hour, more preferably atabout 0.1% to about 20% (w/w), about 0.1% to about 10% (w/w), or about0.5% to about 5% (w/w) relative to circulating lipid material per hour.

Preferably, the aqueous material is mixed rapidly with the lipidmaterial, for example in a flow channel or a vessel.

Rapid mixing of the aqueous material with the heated lipid materialallows the rapid heating and vapourisation or “flashing off” of themajority of the water present in the aqueous mixture. This rapid removalof water can be augmented by one or more vapourisation steps if desired.In certain embodiments, the vapourisation step may be conducted in thesame vessel as the mixing step. In other embodiments, the vapourisationstep may be conducted in a flow channel or second vessel, for example bywithdrawing the mixture from the flow channel or vessel used in themixing step. Preferably, this flow channel or second vessel ismaintained at a lower pressure than that at which the mixing step isperformed.

In one embodiment, vapourisation of the water present in the aqueousmaterial is achieved by maintain the mixture to a temperature that ishigher than the boiling point of the aqueous material. In otherembodiments, vapourisation of the water present in the aqueous materialis achieved by reducing the pressure at which the mixture is maintained,preferably by reducing the pressure at which the mixture is maintained,for example by reducing the pressure in the closeable vessel or system,or by discharging the mixture into an open vessel, or discharging themixture into a closeable vessel or system maintained at a lowerpressure. For example, in one embodiment, the maintaining of step (5) isat lower than ambient pressure. In another embodiment, the maintainingof step (5) is at lower pressure than that at which the admixing of step(4) is performed.

As used herein the phrase “substantially all the water present in theaqueous material is vapourised” contemplates at from at least about 65%to about 100% of the water present in the aqueous material isvapourised, for example at least about 70, 75, 80, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89,90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98 or at least about 99% of the waterpresent in the aqueous material is vapourised, and useful ranges may beselected between any of these forgoing values (for example, from about82% to about 100% of the water is vapourised.

In certain embodiments, it is desirable to remove the vapour, forexample to maintain the pressure in the vessel or flow channel. Thiswill depend on the design of the processing plant, and is contemplatedin the exemplary plant shown in FIG. 3. Preferably, the pressure in thevessel in which the material is maintained is maintained by extractingthe vapour. It will be appreciated that conditions suitable for boilingoff the water may be maintained by any one or more of removing theresulting vapour, additional heating of the mixture, or the admission offresh material.

Preferably, the extracted vapour is condensed to form a flavourconcentrate, as described herein.

Once the majority of the water present in the mixture has been removed,the mixture, now with a lower moisture content than that of the aqueousmaterial prior to addition, may be maintained at or about the firsttemperature, or another temperature, and/or may be maintained at asecond temperature (for example, the mixture is subjected to a secondheating step).

It will be appreciated that the duration of the maintaining step (s) mayvary, and may depend on for example the first temperature, thetemperature of the aqueous material, the pressure at which admixingand/or maintaining is performed, the ratio of aqueous material to lipidmaterial, the rate of admixing, the composition of the lipid material,the composition of the aqueous material, or the desired flavourcharacteristics of the flavour concentrate.

In various embodiments, the second temperature is higher than the firsttemperature. However, temperatures lower than the first temperature arecontemplated, and may be selected depending on, for example, thestarting materials, the flavours to be developed, the capabilities ofthe processing plant, to improve process control, or the downstreamuse(s) to which the flavour concentrate will be put.

Preferably the admixing and maintaining is conducted with a view toremoving sufficient water from the aqueous material so that when theresulting particles of milk solids-not-fat are heated, for example bycoming into contact with a heat exchange surface, they do not stick andfoul the plant.

The methods of the invention enable the control of the browningreaction(s) such that the flavour and aroma profiles and their intensitycan by controlled to give final products with a range of flavour andaroma profiles as required.

In certain embodiments, after the final maintaining step the mixture maybe cooled to a convenient temperature for processing, such as theseparation of any solids from the liquid mixture, or for downstreamprocessing, such as the packaging of the mixture.

In one embodiment, the lipid material is heated to an elevatedtemperature and mixed with the aqueous material in a flow channel. Themixture may then be discharged into a vessel, preferably heated and/ormaintained at a lower pressure, so that rapid boiling occurs. In otherembodiments, the aqueous material, which is optionally preheated, may bedirectly added into the vessel to contact the heated lipid materialresiding therein.

In various embodiments the aqueous material may be preheated to atemperature close to its boiling point prior to mixing with the heatedlipid material. It will be appreciated that this may be done so as tominimise the drop in the temperature of the lipid material on additionof the aqueous material, and/or to improve processing, for example toease addition of the aqueous material.

It should be appreciated that any lipid material with a sufficientlyhigh lipid content could be used. Preferably the lipid materialcomprises about 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 or 100% lipid.Examples of suitable lipid material include any vegetable, animal ordairy sourced lipids. Additionally, the lipid material may comprise oneor more edible fats or one or more edible oils or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment of the present invention the lipid material issubstantially anhydrous. Preferably the lipid material has a watercontent of less than about 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1%. More preferably the lipidmaterial has a water content of less than about 2%.

Without wishing to be limited by theory, the flavour characteristics arehighly dependent on the materials used and the heating characteristics.As discussed above, preferably the starting material is a lipid materialto which is added an aqueous material. To ensure that unwanted flavourcharacteristics, for example burnt flavours, are not produced theheating process needs to be well-controlled; this can be achieved wherethe lipid material is heated to a temperature above the boiling point ofthe aqueous material, yet below that which would generate unwantedflavours. In addition, burn-on on the heat transfer surfaces should beavoided to avoid unwanted flavours. More specifically, the applicantshave found that the rapid admixing of the lipid material and the aqueousmaterial and the vapourisation of the majority of the water allowsdesirable flavour components to form and be retained in the mixture andother components are either not formed or can be be removed with thewater vapour. Furthermore, the applicants have determined that condensedflavour concentrates derived from this vapour can be recovered that havedesirable flavour characteristics suitable for use in variousapplications.

In one embodiment of the present invention the lipid material is heatedto a first temperature of at least about 100 to about 180 degreesCelsius, for example at least about, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130,135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175 or about 180 degrees Celsiusand useful ranges may be selected between any of these forgoing values(for example, from about 100 to about 160 or about 100 to about 170degrees Celsius). Preferably the first temperature is at least about 110to about 140° C. and more preferably approximately 135° C. It should beappreciated that an important consideration is that the firsttemperature is above the boiling point of the aqueous material.

Once the lipid material and aqueous material are combined and mixed, themixture is allowed to boil (for example in a flash vessel) at leastuntil substantially all the remaining water is vapourised, the remainingsubstantially dehydrated mixture is maintained at or about the firsttemperature, or at another temperature, or may additionally bemaintained at a second temperature that is different to the firsttemperature. It is believed, without wishing to be bound by any theory,that this maintaining of the mixture is important to continueflavour-generating reactions.

In one embodiment of the present invention the remaining substantiallydehydrated mixture is heated to a temperature above that to which thelipid material was heated.

In one embodiment of the present invention the second temperature is atleast about 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155,160, 165, or about 170° C. Preferably the second temperature is at leastabout 120 to about 160° C., more preferably about 130 to 140° C., andmore preferably about 135° C.

In various embodiments the mixture is held for at least about 1 second,about 10 seconds, 20, 30, 40, or 50 seconds, about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45,50, 55, or 60 minutes. Preferably the mixture is heated for 2 to 10minutes, and more preferably for about 2 to 5 minutes, or for about 2 to4 minutes.

In other embodiments, such as those where the first temperature or thesecond temperature is lower, for example about 105 to 115° C., themixture is heated for about 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60minutes.

It will be appreciated that the time for which the mixture is heated isat least in part temperature dependent. For example, the mixture may beheated at higher temperatures for shorter periods, and vice versa, whilestill achieving the development of desirable flavour characteristics.For example, where the temperature is lower, for example about 105 to115° C., the mixture may be heated for longer periods, such as about 15,20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 minutes. Conversely, when thetemperature is higher, for example about 130 to 150° C., the period maybe shorter, such as about 2 to 4 minutes.

In a further embodiment of the present invention the method of producinga milkfat concentrate includes a solids removal step after mixing andheating of the lipid material and aqueous material.

Suitable sources of lipids can be obtained from plant, animal and dairysources, including but not limited to, seeds and grains, animal tissues,dairy, cream and whey sources. Such sources of lipid materials may bemodified or refined for edible use by a variety of means known in theart of fats and oils processing, including centrifugal separation anddecanting, solvent extraction, chemical modification e.g. catalytictreatment with hydrogen, fractionation on the basis of melting point anddistillation. Lipid fractions with a high melting point are often knownas hard fractions and low melting point fractions are known as softfractions. Intermediate fractions are also known. Fats and oils preparedby blending selected lipid stocks and fractions are also known and areuseful for the practise of this invention. Preferably the lipid materialis selected from any one or more of a dairy sourced lipid, such asanhydrous milk fat or butter oil, or tallow, lard or other animal fat.

Modified, refined, fractionated, derivatised or otherwise processedlipid materials such as those exemplified above or produced by themethods exemplified above are collectively referred to herein as“modified” lipid materials. For example, a fractionated dairy fat may beconveniently referred to as a “modified dairy fat”.

The dairy sourced lipid is preferably selected or extracted from anycultured or uncultured recombined, powdered or fresh skim milk,reconstituted whole or concentrated milk, ultrafiltered milk retentate,milk protein concentrate (MPC), milk protein isolate (MPI), milk fat,cream, butter, anhydrous milk fat (AMF), butter milk, butter serum, hardmilk fat fractions, soft milk fat fractions, extracts of any of thesemilk derivatives including extracts prepared by multistagefractionation, differential crystallisation, solvent fractionation,supercritical fractionation, near supercritical fractionation,distillation, centrifugal fractionation, or fractionation with amodifier (e.g. soaps or emulsifiers), hydrolysates of any of thesederivatives, fractions of the hydrolysates, and combinations of thesederivatives, including combinations of hydrolysed and/or non-hydrolysedfractions.

In one embodiment the aqueous material is selected or derived from soybean milk, soy bean protein, from a reconstituted, recombined, fermentedor fresh dairy source (also referred to herein as a dairy material) e.g.whole milk, recombined or fresh skim milk, reconstituted whole milkpowder, reconstituted skim milk powder, skim milk concentrate, skim milkretentate, concentrated milk, cultured milk, yoghurt, kefir,ultrafiltered milk retentate, milk protein concentrate (MPC), milkprotein isolate (MPI), calcium depleted milk protein concentrate (MPC),low fat milk, low fat milk protein concentrate (MPC), casein, caseinate,cream, cultured cream, butter milk, butter serum, a dairy fermentate,whey, whey protein concentrate (WPC), whey cream, or cultured wheycream.

In one embodiment the aqueous material is selected from legume, cereal,seed, nut, fruit, or vegetable extracts, recombined or fresh whole milk,recombined or fresh skim milk, reconstituted whole milk powder,reconstituted skim milk powder, cultured milk, yoghurt, kefir, milk fat,cream, whey cream, cultured cream, and combinations thereof. In oneembodiment the aqueous material is a cultured material such as acultured milk or cultured cream. Preferably the culture source is afermentate produced using acid producing bacteria e.g. a yoghurt. Morepreferably the culture consists of one or more, two or more, or three ormore cultures. Other fermentations may use organisms such as yeasts ormoulds or other bacteria. Other animal- or micro-organism-derivedaqueous materials are also contemplated.

Preferably the aqueous material is selected from any one or more ofcream, whey cream, or cultured cream.

Preferably, the aqueous material is an uncooked aqueous material asdefined herein.

The applicants have determined that the vapour produced on mixing of theaqueous material and the lipid material comprises volatile compounds inaddition to water, and that condensed flavour concentrates recoveredfrom this vapour may also have desired flavour characteristics.Expressly contemplated are concentrates formed by the condensation ofvapour produced by the admixture of the lipid material and the aqueousmaterial, or the admixture of an aqueous material and the lipidmaterial/aqueous material mixture, or by the subsequent vapourisation orheating of these mixtures.

Accordingly, in another aspect the invention relates to a method ofmaking a flavour concentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) heating a lipid material to a first temperature, the lipid    material being substantially free of protein or water or both    protein and water,-   (2) adding an aqueous material to the heated lipid material to form    a mixture, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars and    one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids, the first    temperature being above the boiling point of the aqueous material,    wherein at least some of the water present in the aqueous material    is vapourised,-   (3) extracting the vapour produced in step (2) and-   (4) condensing the vapour to form a flavour concentrate.

Preferably, the method comprises the additional step

-   (5) maintaining the recovered lipid mixture at a convenient    temperature.

In one embodiment the method comprises the additional step before step(3) of

-   (2a) introducing the heated mixture into a vessel whereupon the    majority of the water in the mixture is vapourised.

The applicants have further determined that the solids produced onmixing of the aqueous material and the lipid material and maintenance ofthe mixture at elevated temperature comprise useful compounds and thatflavour concentrates from these solids may also have desired flavourcharacteristics. Expressly contemplated are concentrates formed by theseparation of the solids from the liquid mixture.

Accordingly, in another aspect the invention relates to a method ofmaking a solids flavour concentrate, the method comprising

-   (1) providing a lipid material,-   (2) providing an aqueous material, the aqueous material comprising    one or more sugars and one or more free amine groups,-   (3) heating the lipid material to a first temperature at or above    the boiling point of the aqueous material,-   (4) admixing the heated lipid material and the aqueous material,-   (5) maintaining the mixture for a period at a temperature at least    until substantially all the water present in the aqueous material is    vapourised,-   (6) separating the solids from the mixture to form the solids    flavour concentrate.

In one embodiment, the method additionally comprises after step (5) oneor more of the following optional steps:

-   -   5c) maintaining the mixture for a second period at a second        temperature that is similar or different to the first        temperature,    -   5d) cooling the mixture.

Methods and devices for the separation of solids from liquids are wellknown in the art, and any convenient device may be used. The separationstep may, for example, be a filtration step or a clarifying step orboth. Devices suitable for use in such a separation step, such ascentrifuges, decanters or membrane filters, are well known in the artand are contemplated for use in the methods of the present invention. Insome embodiments, it will be convenient to cool the mixture prior to theseparation of the solids from the liquid mixture.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the methods of theinvention may be conveniently conducted on a continuous basis, or abatch basis. Either methodology allows the admixing of aqueous materialwith the lipid material, or indeed the iterative admixing of aqueousmaterial with the lipid material or the mixture resulting from aprevious mixing step. As exemplified herein, the aqueous material addedin a subsequent mixing step may differ to that added in a previousmixing step.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the methods of thepresent invention are particularly amenable to production at commercialscale, for example using modern dairy products processing techniques andequipment. Exemplary plant designs used in the commercial-scalemanufacture of flavour concentrates of the present invention aredescribed herein. Efficient commercial production, such as continuousbatch processing with no or little downtime (for example, as requiredfor washing plant such as, for example, heat exchanger surfaces), can beachieved using the methods of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that the design of a given plant and theprocesses to be implemented therein are interrelated, and so many plantdesigns may be suitable for implementing various embodiments of thepresent invention. The applicants have, however, determined that theavoidance of fouling and particularly burn-on (particularly onheat-exchanger surfaces) is a key design criterion for any such plant soas to achieve continuous production with little or no downtime. Forexample, in one implementation of a trial plant, the use of shallowertemperature gradient across the heat exchanger (such as may be achievedusing high pressure heated water rather than steam) has been found bythe applicants to result in no or little detectable burn-on. In anotherimplementation, the use of a conical reaction vessel enabled continuousbatch processing to be implemented without the need for cleaning betweenbatches.

2.1 Exemplary Preparation of Flavour Concentrates in a Batch Operationwith Internal Heating

An exemplary batch process for manufacture of a flavour concentrateusing the method of this invention is described below. A schematic viewof this process is shown in FIG. 2. The vessel (1) is heated with steamand the contents may be stirred using an agitator (2) (fitted withTeflon® scraper blades). A quantity of lipid material (3) is placed inthe vessel and stirred and heated to a first temperature, preferablyabove 100° C. When this temperature is reached, aqueous material, forexample cream, is introduced through inlet (4) using a positive pump.The rate of addition may be determined by the rate of evaporation of theaqueous phase of the aqueous material, which in turn is determined bythe temperature of the contents of the vessel. During the process, theprotein and other non-fat solids (SNF) (such as non-fat-milk solids(MSNF)) undergo Maillard browning reactions.

The volatiles that are evaporated with the steam exit though aperture(5). The rate of boil-off from the vessel may be assisted by applicationof a vacuum to aperture (5), and the water-soluble volatiles may becollected by condensing the distillate.

When all the aqueous material has been added to the vessel, the heatingis continued until no more steam is given off and further Maillardbrowning reactions occur.

The vessel contents are then cooled by introduction of water into thevessel jacket (7) to a temperature (preferably 45-60° C.) that allowsthe mixture to be handled through standard pumps and filters.

The contents are then removed from the vessel via a product outlet (6).The browned solids may be separated from the flavoured fat using any ofa number of standard separation techniques, including filtration througha plate and frame filter press, separation through a centrifugalseparator, and separation in a decanter separator. The resultant fatproduct and curd residue may then be packed.

2.2 Exemplary Preparation of Flavour Concentrates in a Batch Operationwith an External Heating Circuit

Another method of performing at least one aspect of the invention isdescribed below with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows the process with an external heating circuit applied. Inmost situations, this will be the preferred process. The vessel (1)holds the lipid material (2) that is heated by external circulationusing pump (3) through heat exchangers (9) to a temperature above theboiling point of the aqueous material under applied pressure. The steaminlet (13) and the condensate drain (14) are shown on the heatexchanger. At that temperature, the aqueous material (6 a) is introducedinto the circuit after the heat exchangers via pump (7 a) and valve (4a) positioned close to back-pressure valve (5) set to give a pressurebetween 100 and 600 kPa (kilopascals). Alternatively, the aqueousmaterial (for example, cream) (6 b) may be introduced before theexternal heat exchangers via pump (7 b) and valve (4 b). In thisalternative the back-pressure valve (5) remains in place and is set tothe same pressure range as before.

In the heat exchangers, the lipid material or mixture of lipid andaqueous materials is superheated. The milk solids-not-fat undergoesMaillard browning reactions and, on re-entering the reaction vessel viaa product circulation return (10), the superheated water is convertedimmediately to steam.

Steam and other volatiles are flashed off and exit via an outlet (11).As described above, the steam and other condensables may be extracted(for example by using a partial vacuum), condensed and collected.

Once all the aqueous material is added, the heating is continued untilthere is minimal evidence of steam and further Maillard browningreactions occur. While maintaining product circulation, cold water iscirculated through the service side of the heat exchangers, to reducethe product temperature to around 55° C. The product is then removedfrom the system via an outlet (8) or may be removed via a drain (12).The browned milk solids can then be separated from the fat using one ofthe methods described above.

The aqueous material may be added in more than one step, and eachaddition step may be carried out at different temperatures if desired.

For example, in one embodiment, milkfat may be heated to 160° C. andhalf the cream added to the circulating milkfat. The milkfat temperaturemay then be reduced to 130° C. and the remainder of the cream can beadded before the milkfat/milk solids slurry is cooled to 60° C. forremoval of the solids. Cooling may be conveniently achieved usingmethods and apparatuses well known in the art, such as scraped surfaceheat exchangers, tubular heat exchangers and the like.

After removal of the browned milk solids (by filtration, decanting, ormechanical separation) the product can be de-aerated by vacuum treatmentin a dehydrator at 40-100° C. (preferably 90° C.). The vacuum treatmentremoves air (oxygen) and improves the keeping quality of theconcentrate. Alternatively inert gas such as nitrogen can be spargedinto the product to remove the oxygen.

2.3 Exemplary Preparation of Flavour Concentrates in a Batch Operationwith an External Heating Circuit

A further exemplary implementation of at least one aspect of theinvention is described below with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic of the plant in which the process isimplemented, again with an external heating circuit applied. The vessel(1) holds the lipid material (2) that is heated by external circulationusing pump (3) through heat exchangers (9) to a temperature above theboiling point of the aqueous material under applied pressure. In thisinstance the lipid is heated at 135° C. The steam inlet (13), highpressure service water (22), the high pressure water heater (23), andthe service water drain (14) are shown on the heat exchanger. Theaqueous material (6) is introduced into the circuit after the heatexchangers via pump (7) and valve (4 a) positioned close toback-pressure valve (5) set to give a pressure between 200 and 300 kPa(kilopascals). In this embodiment, the aqueous material is heated atapproximately 70° C. to 80° C. prior to admixture by heater (17) usingheating water (18). Alternatively, the aqueous material may beintroduced before the external heat exchangers via valve (4 b).

In the heat exchangers, the lipid material or mixture of lipid andaqueous materials is superheated. The milk solids-not-fat undergoesMaillard browning reactions and, on re-entering the reaction vessel viaa product circulation return (10), the superheated water is convertedimmediately to steam.

The mixture is maintained at about 135° C. and below ambient pressureduring admixing. Steam and other volatiles are flashed off and exit viaan outlet (11), whereupon they are condensed in a condenser (20) usingcooling water (19) to yield a condensed flavour concentrate (21). Thiscondensation imparts a slight vacuum on the reaction vessel.

Once all the aqueous material is added, the heating is continued untilthere is minimal evidence of steam and further Maillard browningreactions occur. Reaction progress may be conveniently monitored using asightglass (15) or colour sensor (16). While maintaining productcirculation, cold water is circulated through the service side of theheat exchangers, to reduce the product temperature to around 80° C. Thisis conveniently achieved using the water heater (23). The product isthen removed from the system via an outlet (8) or may be removed via adrain (12). The browned milk solids can then be separated from the fatusing one of the methods described above.

3. Flavour Compounds

Exemplary compounds believed to be important to the flavour profileassociated with flavour concentrates of the present invention aredescribed below.

3.1 Lactose Fragmentation Compounds

For the product of the present invention, the most abundant class ofvolatile compounds, as well as the most important potent flavourcompounds are believed to come from lactose fragmentation. Lactosefragmentation can occur through (i) Maillard reactions (which requiresboth a source of primary or secondary amines (eg protein) and sugar),and/or (ii) caramelisation reactions (which requires sugar but do notrequire protein) (see Wadodkar U R, Punjrath J S & Shah A C (2002).Evaluation of volatile compounds in different types of ghee using directinjection with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Journal of DairyResearch, 69, pp 163-171). For traditional ghee from made butter,lactose fragmentation compounds are still amongst the most importantclasses of potent flavour compounds, although their concentrations arelower than those found in the flavour concentrate described herein.

Some of the most relevant lactose fragmentation compounds for theflavour concentrate described herein include: furfural, maltol,furaneol, homofuraneol, and 3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-en-2,5-dione. Anotherlactose fragmentation compound, that is more abundant in the flavourconcentrate described herein than in traditional ghee made from butter,is acetol (hydroxyacetone). Maltol is known as an important flavourcompound of heated butter (see Sulser H & Buchi W (1969), Volatile acidsin browned butter. Leitschrift fur Lebesmittel-untersuchung andForschhung, 141(3) pp 145-149).

3.2 Milkfat Hydrolysis Compounds

The most abundant classes of volatile compounds of traditional ghee aremethyl ketones and carboxylic acids. These two classes of compounds areboth present in unheated milkfat, but at relatively low levels. However,when the milkfat is heated, for example during manufacture oftraditional ghee, the relative levels of both methyl ketones andcarboxylic acids increases.

The formation of methyl ketones (such as pentan-2-one and heptan-2-one)is dependant upon the hydrolysis (with water) of the glycerylβ-ketocarboxylate component of the milkfat, and subsequentdecarboxylation of the resulting β-ketocarboxylic acids. Formation ofcarboxylic acids (such as butyric acid) is dependant upon the hydrolysis(with water) of the glyceryl carboxylates component of milkfat. Eventhough glyceryl β-ketocarboxylates are only a minor component ofmilkfat, the rate of hydrolysis of β-ketocarboxylate esters is muchgreater than that of carboxylate esters, and therefore leads to anabundance of methyl ketones as volatiles in traditional ghee (seeWaldhawa B K & Jain M K (1990). Chemistry of Ghee Flavour—A Review.Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 43 (4)).

3.3 Marker Compounds

The applicants have determined that flavour concentrates produced by themethods of the invention exhibit an elevation in compounds such as butnot limited to maltol, acetol, furfural when compared to the startingmaterials or to the products of many traditional ghee manufacturingmethods. Similarly, the flavour concentrates produced by the methods ofthe invention can exhibit a decrease in lipid hydrolysis products(depending on the conditions used), such as but not limited to freefatty acids and methyl ketones, when compared to the starting materialsor to the products of traditional ghee manufacturing methods.

Accordingly, in another aspect of the invention is a flavouredcomposition comprising or consisting of

a cooked combination of a lipid material and an aqueous material

wherein the lipid material is one or more of a dairy, animal orvegetable fat or oil and the aqueous material comprises one or moresugars and one or more proteins, and optionally one or more lipids or afermentate, and

wherein the composition includes one or more of the compoundssubstantially as follows:

1-100 μg/g furfural (CAS [98-01-01]),

0.1-10 μg/g 3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-ene-2,5-dione (DHHD) (CAS [10153-61-4]),

5-100 μg/g maltol (CAS [118-71-8]),

0.1-10 μg/g furaneol (CAS [3658-77-3]),

2-30 μg/g acetol (CAS [116-09-6]),

1-5 μg/g pentan-2-one (CAS [107-87-9]),

1-80 μg/g heptan-2-one (CAS [110-43-0]),

0.1-100 μg/g 3-methylbutanal (CAS [590-86-3]), or

0-10 μg/g 2-methylbutanal (CAS [96-17-3]).

In various embodiments, the composition includes one or more of thecompounds substantially as follows:

-   -   at least about 3 μg/g furfural, preferably at least about 5,        about 10, about 15 or about 20 μg/g furfural,    -   at least about 0.2 μg/g DHHD, preferably at least about 0.5,        about 1, about 1.5 or about 2 μg/g DHHD,    -   at least about 7.5 μg/g maltol, preferably at least about 10,        about 15, about 20 or about 25 μg/g maltol,    -   at least about 0.2 μg/g furaneol, preferably at least about 0.5,        about 1, about 1.5, about 2, or about 2.5 μg/g furaneol,    -   at least about 2 μg/g acetol, preferably at least about 2.5,        about 3, about 3.5, or about 12 μg/g acetol,    -   less than about 20 μg pentan-2-one, preferably less than about        15, about 10, about 6, about 5, or less than about 4 μg/g        pentan-2-one,    -   less than about 50 μg/g heptan-2-one, preferably less than about        40, about 35, about 30, about 25, or less than about 20 μg/g        heptan-2-one,    -   at least about 0.2 μg/g 3-methylbutanal, preferably at least        about 0.25, about 0.3, about 0.4, about 0.5, or about 6 μg/g        3-methylbutanal, or    -   at least about 0.1 μg/g 2-methylbutanal, preferably at least        about 0.15, about 0.2, about 0.25, about 0.3, about 0.35, or        about 0.4 μg/g 2-methylbutanal.

In various embodiments, the composition comprises two or more, three ormore, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, eight ormore, or all nine of the above compounds.

For example, one exemplary composition comprises

1-100 μg/g furfural, and

0.1-10 μg/g 3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-ene-2,5-dione [DHHD].

In another example, the composition comprises

1-100 μg/g furfural and

5-100 μg/g maltol.

In another example, the composition comprises

5-100 μg/g maltol,

0.1-10 μg/g furaneol, and

0.5-100 μg/g 3-methylbutanal.

As will be appreciated, each of the 9! possible permutations orcombinations of the above compounds are expressly contemplated as ifindividually set forth herein.

In various embodiments of the present invention a concentrate product isproduced having flavour characteristics selected from any one or more oftoffee flavour, butterscotch flavour, baked biscuit flavour, caramelflavour, and malt flavour, flavours associated with roasted nuts,heated/roasted popcorn, fried potato chips, baked unleavened breads,flavours associated with roasted meat, blue cheese or cooked pizza.

Table 1 below presents a summary of the concentrations of various markercompounds present in exemplary samples of AMF, Ghee, and concentrates ofthe present invention as described in Examples 1 to 5. Concentrationswere determined using a headspace/solid phase microextraction/gaschromatography method, with gas chromatography conditions as per BendallJ G (2001), “Aroma compounds of fresh milk from New Zealand cows feddifferent diets”, Journal Of Agricultural And Food Chemistry 49 (10):4825-4832 October 2001.

TABLE 1 Exemplary concentrations of marker compounds Lipid Flavourconcentrate made Compound AMF Ghee* from cream Furfural (μg/g) <0.10.1-3    3-30 DHHD (μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.1-10  Maltol (μg/g) <0.1-2 1.5-7.510-60 Furaneol (μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.1-5   Acetol (μg/g) <0.1 0.2-2    2-30pentan-2-one (μg/g)   0.1-10 15-40 0.5-5   heptan-2-one (μg/g)    2-1040-80 15-80 3-methylbutanal (μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.1-10  2-methylbutanal(μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.1-0.5 *made from butter

As can be seen in Table 1, the concentration of the exemplary methylketones pentan-2-one and heptan-2-one present in the flavour concentrateof the present invention is at the lower limit or below that present inghee made from butter. Similarly, the concentration of exemplary desiredflavour compounds, such as furfural and maltol, is substantially higherin the flavour concentrate of the present invention compared to thatpresent in ghee from butter.

3.4 Effect of Fermentation

It is well known in the art that fermentation by differentmicro-organisms results in differences in the concentrations or amountsof the fermentation products produced thereby. For example, thefermentation of the aqueous material, for example dairy cream, to beused for flavour concentrate manufacture alters the relativeconcentrations of some of the lactose fragmentation compounds, and thatthese relative concentrations may differ depending on the organism ororganisms used for the fermentation. Preferred organisms include acid,lipase and protease secretors, such as lactic acid secretors, orcombinations or metabolites thereof. Examples of such preferredorganisms include strains from the mesophilic cheese starter speciesLactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris.Further examples of organisms suitable for use in the present inventioninclude other lactococcus species such as Lactococcus lactis subsp.diacetylactis, Leuconostoc species including, for example, Leuconostoccremoris, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Lactobacillus speciesincluding Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillusacidophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus lacus,Lactobacillus rhammosis, and Bifidobacterium species. Fungi may also beused in the preparation of a culture for use in the present invention.Preferred organisms are those producing or increasing the amount orconcentration of desired flavour compounds or the precursors of desiredflavour compounds in the aqueous material or the flavour concentrate.For example, in certain embodiments micro-organisms that produce orincrease the concentration of a class of compounds of which2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal are examples in the flavourconcentrate, are preferred. These compounds can impart a desirable maltyor nutty flavour character.

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention the aqueousmaterial is or includes a product from a culture or a fermentation. Inone embodiment, the culture source is cultured yoghurt. In preferredembodiments, the aqueous material is a cultured dairy material, such asa cultured cream.

In certain embodiments, the aqueous material is treated with an organismas described above. In other embodiments, the aqueous material istreated with one or more enzymes, one or more acids, or one or morebases, or combinations thereof. Suitable enzymes include lipases andproteases. Suitable acids are well known in the art and include foodgrade acids such as lactic acid and acetic acid. Suitable bases are alsowell known in the art and include sodium hydroxide and potassiumhydroxide.

Various aspects of the invention will now be illustrated in non-limitingways by reference to the following examples.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Preparation of Flavour Concentrates

A butter concentrate with caramel/toffee flavours was produced that canbe used in cooking to enhance the cooked/caramel butter flavours.

The process involved the heating of a lipid material with progressiveaddition of an aqueous material until the majority of the water had beendriven off and the curds had browned to yield a caramel flavour.

600 g of Meadowfresh cream (pasteurised, 40% fat) sourced from MeadowFresh Limited, New Zealand, was weighed into a glass beaker and heatedto 50° C. in a waterbath.

600 g of Anhydrous Milkfat (AMF) sourced from Fonterra Cooperative GroupLtd (Manufactured at Edgecumbe site, 23/5/05) was placed in a stainlesssteel beaker and heated with a gas camping burner. A temperature probewas immersed into the AMF ensuring that the probe did not touch thebottom of the beaker. The AMF was stirred using an overhead laboratorystirrer.

The AMF was heated to 120° C., the gas flow was adjusted to maintain thetemperature and the cream was slowly added through a dropping funnelwhile stirring at sufficient speed to rapidly disperse the cream and ata rate that maintains the temperature at 120° C. and allowed the waterto boil off.

When most of the water had evaporated, the temperature was allowed torise to 135° C. under vigorous stirring. The temperature was maintaineduntil the curds had stopped bubbling and taken on a reddish-browncolour.

The gas was turned off and the mixture was cooled to 50° C. by stirringat room temperature.

The mixture was filtered using a stainless steel funnel lined with a twolayers of folded paper towel to produce a lipid flavour concentrate freefrom browned particles.

Three samples were produced and are summarised in Table 2. Sample 1 wasthe AMF used to produce Sample 3 with no further processing. Sample 1was representative of most ghee available in the market place. Sample 3was produced as outlined above. Sample 2 was produced in a similar wayto Sample 3 with the exception that the AMF was replaced with unsaltedNew Zealand butter and that no aqueous material was added. Theproduction of Sample 2 is representative of mass produced ghee made frombutter and beurre noir/beurre Noisette. Sample 4 was produced in thesame way as Sample 3, using different batches of raw materials.

TABLE 2 Lipid and aqueous starting materials for flavour concentratemanufacture Sample # Lipid Material Aqueous Material 1 AMF Nil 2 ButterNil 3 AMF Natural Cream 4 AMF Natural Cream

Sensory evaluation of these samples showed that Samples 3 and 4 hadmarkedly higher levels of cooking related flavours and aromas describedas toffee, butterscotch, baked biscuit and caramel in comparison withSample 1 (AMF) without any diminishment of cream flavour and withoutincrease in aged related flavours. Sample 2 had increased levels ofcooking related flavours than Sample 1 but these were much lower thanthose for Samples 3 and 4.

The samples were analysed for flavour compounds as follows.Concentrations were determined using a headspace/solid phasemicroextraction/gas chromatography method, with gas chromatographyconditions as per Bendall J G (2001), “Aroma compounds of fresh milkfrom New Zealand cows fed different diets”, Journal Of Agricultural AndFood Chemistry 49 (10): 4825-4832 October 2001. The results of thisanalysis are shown in Table 3 below.

TABLE 3 Flavour chemistry analysis Compound Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3Sample 4 3-Methylbutanal (μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.1 0.6 2-Methylbutanal (μg/g)<0.1 <0.1 0.1 0.3 Furaneol (μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.5 0.9 Maltol (μg/g) 1.81.5 25 26 Furfural (μg/g) <0.1 0.8 17 21 DHHD (μg/g) <0.1 <0.1 0.4 1

Table 3 shows that Samples 3 and 4 had elevated levels of key flavourchemicals (such as maltol and furfural) in comparison with Sample 1,which resulted in increased flavour profile. Sample 2 showed minimalelevation of these key flavour chemicals indicating a much weakerflavour profile than Samples 3 and 4.

Example 2 Preparation of Flavour Concentrates Using Batch Process withInternal Heating

This example describes the preparation of flavour concentrates using thebatch process with internal heating as described above.

15 kg of Anhydrous Milkfat was heated to 120° C. in a jacketed vessel asshown in FIG. 2. 12 kg of pasteurised cream (≈40% fat) was pumped intothe vessel at a rate of approximately 15 kg/hour and the process wasallowed to proceed until no further steam was evolved. When all thecream was used, the temperature of the vessel was raised to 140° C. for5 minutes to complete the Maillard browning reactions. The vesselcontents were then cooled to 55° C., by introducing cold water into thevessel jacket. The contents were then removed and the solids separatedby filtration through a GAFF filter to produce a lipid flavourconcentrate.

This flavour concentrate had flavour and aroma characteristics similarto those of Samples 3 and 4 from Example 1, and had higher levels ofcooking related flavours in comparison with the starting material AMF.

Example 3 Preparation of Flavour Concentrates Using Batch Process withExternal Heating

This example describes the preparation of flavour concentrates using thebatch process with external heating and the point of cream introductionbeing before the heat exchanger as described above with reference toFIG. 3.

52 kg of Anhydrous Milkfat was placed in the holding vessel and thecirculation pump turned on at approximately 2500 kg/hour. Steam wasapplied to the heat exchangers and the temperature of the fat raised to140° C. The back-pressure valve was set to 400 kPa. When the temperatureat the exit of the heat exchangers reached 140° C., the cream pump wasturned on and the cream flow set to 60 kg/hour. 30 Kg of pasteurisedcream (40% fat) was added. The temperature was maintained at 140° C.during addition and for 5 minutes after all the cream had been added. Atthis time, the service steam was turned off and cold water introducedinto the service side of the heat exchangers to bring the temperature ofthe circulating mixture of browned milk solids and fat to 55° C. Thebrowned milk solids were then separated from the fat using a Sharplesdecanter to produce a lipid flavour concentrate.

This lipid flavour concentrate had flavour and aroma characteristicssimilar to those of both Samples 3 and 4 from Example 1 and the materialproduced in Example 2. Again, higher levels of cooking related flavoursin comparison with the parent AMF were described.

Example 4 Preparation of Flavour Concentrates Using Batch Process withExternal Heating

This example describes the preparation of another flavour concentrateusing the batch process with external heating and the point of creamintroduction being before the heat exchanger as described above withreference to FIG. 3.

0.45 kg lactose and 0.45 kg lactose hydrolysed milkpowder were added to30 kg pasteurised cream (40% fat). The mixture was blended by stirringvigorously at 20° C. to hydrate the powder and dissolve both ingredientsin the aqueous phase of the cream. The addition of the lactose andlactose hydrolysed milkpowder increased the lactose content of the creamfrom 3% by weight to approximately 6-7% by weight and increased thecombined glucose and galactose content from 0% by weight to 1-2% byweight. The cream was added to 52 kg anhydrous milkfat and processedunder the same conditions as described in Example 3 above to produce alipid flavour concentrate.

The resulting flavour concentrate had strong caramel/butterscotchflavours.

Example 5 Preparation of Flavour Concentrates Using Batch Process withExternal Heating

This example describes the preparation of a further flavour concentrateusing the batch process with external heating as described in Example 3above. However, in this example, two addition steps for the aqueousmaterial were performed. Further, the composition of the aqueousmaterial used for the second addition step was modified.

52 kg of AMF was heated to approximately 160° C. by recirculation aroundthe heat exchanger loop at approximately 2500 kg/hour, and 15 kg sweetcream was added at 60 kg/hour using the homogenising valve set at 300kPa. When all the cream has been pumped in, and no more steam wasemitted, the product was held at temperature for 10 minutes and then thetemperature was reduced to 130° C. A further 15 kg cream to which 450 geach of lactose and hydrolysed milkpowder had been added was then addedto the lipid mixture at the same flowrate. When all the cream had beenadded and no more steam was emitted, the product was held for 5 minutesand then cooled to 55° C.

The lipid flavour concentrate was analysed for flavour compounds usingthe methods described in Example 1 above after separation. The resultsare shown in Table 4 below.

TABLE 4 Flavour chemistry analysis Compound Sample 3-Methylbutanal(μg/g) <0.1 2-Methylbutanal (μg/g) <0.1 Furaneol (μg/g) 2.2 Maltol(μg/g) 17.3 Furfural (μg/g) 20.5 DHHD (μg/g) 2.2

The flavour concentrate produced using this method had strongcaramel/butterscotch flavours.

Example 6 Sensory Evaluation of Flavour Concentrates

Samples 3 and 4 as described in Example 1 and presented in Table 3 werediluted in AMF to 20% by adding 40 ml of melted sample to 160 ml ofmelted AMF. Each sample was compared to the other samples and to acontrol standard AMF by a tasting panel to determine any differences insensory profile.

Panellists were familiarised with the flavour attributes described inTable 5 below before the sensory evaluation.

TABLE 5 Flavour Attribute Definitions Attribute Definition Sweet A basictaste associated with sucrose Salt A basic taste associated with sodiumchloride or table salt Cream The flavour associated with New Zealandorigin UHT cream. Toffee A flavour associated with toffee (Walker'sToffee) Butterscotch The flavour associated with butterscotch Baked Theflavour associated with home baking e.g. Home made biscuit hokey pokeybiscuits Caramel The flavour associated with sugar that has been cookedexemplified by condensed milk that has been boiled in the tin Malt Theflavour associated with malt (Mackintosh malt lolly) Oxidised A generalterm related to various characteristics of oxidised foods - such asstale, rancid, painty and tallow Lactic The flavour associated with sourcream, cream cheese or acidophilus Yoghurt Cheesy The flavoursassociated with cooked cheddar cheese Scorched/ The flavour associatedwith burnt butter burnt Cowy A flavour reminiscent of cows, farm animalsand their environments e.g. cowshed, cow breath, barny, wet dog, wetwool, etc.

Each panellist received approximately 20 ml of each anhydrous liquidbutter sample, served at 40° C.

The panellists were instructed to rate each sample for the 13 flavourattributes (sweet, salt, creamy, toffee, butterscotch, baked biscuit,caramel, malt, oxidised, lactic, cheesy, scorched/burnt, cowy). An‘other’ category was also available for panellists to identify any extraflavours not covered by the 12 attributes.

The panellists rated all samples in individual booths under red lights.Between each sample there was a one minute time delay where thepanellists cleansed their palates with 24° C. filtered water and sodawater and ‘Crisp’ Fresh up apple juice.

The standard AMF sample had a sensory profile that was creamy and lackedthe toffee, butterscotch, baked biscuit, and caramel or scorched/burntflavours found in samples 3 and 4.

Example 7 Preparation of Flavour Concentrates Using Daily and Non-DailyMaterials

This example describes the preparation of lipid flavour concentratesusing non-dairy materials and combinations of dairy and non-dairymaterials.

Eight flavour concentrate variants were made using a variety of startingmaterials as outlined in Table 6. Some of the aqueous materials asindicated in Table 6 were fermented. The stated amount was heated to 30°C. and 1% Danisco Flora Danica starter culture was dispersed into it.This mixture was fermented overnight at 30° C. to give the pH indicatedin Table 6. These aqueous phases were heated to 60° C. prior to use.

In each case, the lipid material was placed in a open vessel and heatedwith a gas burner. A temperature probe was immersed into the lipidmaterial ensuring that the probe did not touch the bottom of the vessel.The AMF was stirred using a spatula.

The lipid was heated to approximately 120° C., the gas flow was adjustedto maintain the temperature and the aqueous material was slowly addedusing a pipette with stirring at sufficient speed to rapidly dispersethe cream and at a rate that maintains the temperature at approximatelyat 120° C. and allowed the water to boil off.

When most of the water had evaporated, the temperature was allowed torise to approximately 130° C. under vigorous stirring. The temperaturewas maintained until the curds had stopped bubbling and taken on areddish-brown colour. The holding times used are shown in Table 6.

The gas was turned off and the mixture was cooled to 80° C. by placingthe mixture in a stainless steel beaker and immersing this in a mixer ofice and water. The mixtures were then filtered using a stainless steelfunnel lined with a two layers of folded paper towel to produce flavourconcentrates free from browned particles.

Seven samples were produced and are summarised in Table 6. The sampleswere made using the method of the invention and a variety of lipid andaqueous materials, as described in Table 6. The samples made using soymilk and orange juice produced very sticky solid residue which dried toproduce coarse chunks. As shown in Table 6, the cream used in thepreparation of samples 5 and 7 was fermented with Flora Danica culture,an exemplary mixed lactic acid starter culture typical of those used inthe preparation of cultured dairy materials.

TABLE 6 Flavour concentrate manufacture Sample Holding time at # LipidMaterial Aqueous Material Fermentation 130° C. (min) 1 300 g Canola oil300 g of 25% solution Fora Danica, 1 of buttermilk powder pH = 4.76 2300 g Tallow 300 g Vitasoy soy milk None 12 3 300 g AMF 300 g Vitasoysoy milk None 13 4 Coconut oil 280 g Orange juice and None 2.2 20 ggluten powder 5 300 g AMF 300 g cream Fora Danica, 8 pH = 4.40 6 300 gAMF 300 g of 25% solution Fora Danica, 3.5 of buttermilk powder pH notrecorded 7 300 g Canola oil 300 g cream Fora Danica to 6 pH not recorded

The source of the lipid and aqueous materials used in this example ispresented in Table 7 below. As can be seen, all are readily availableproducts and are representative of the materials that are suitable foruse in the present invention.

TABLE 7 Lipid and aqueous starting materials for flavour concentratemanufacture Product Material Name Source Brand Manufacturer Code Canolaoil Canola Supermarket Sunfield oils Tasti Products, Best Auckland, Newbefore Zealand 13 Feb. 2009 Tallow Chefade Supermarket Chefade Unilever,Best Petone, New before Zealand 07 Oct. 2008 Hydrogenated KremeltaSupermarket Kremelta Peerless Best Coconut oil Vegetable Holdings Pty,before Shortening Braybrook, 03 Oct. 2008 Victoria Australia. Soy milkVitasoy Supermarket Vitasoy Vitasoy Best Creamy Australia beforeOriginal Products Pty, 04 Sep. 2008 Melbourne, Australia Wheat glutenFine ground Supermarket Healtheries Healtheries of Best Gluten NewZealand before Flour Ltd. Auckland, November 2010 New Zealand. AMF FFMRFonterra NZMP Fonterra, 4172, Auckland. New BQ30, Zealand E1421. OrangeJuice Real Orange Supermarket McCoy Frucor, Best Juice Auckland. Newbefore Zealand 04 Nov. 2008 Cream Cream Supermarket MeadowfreshMeadowfresh, Not (pasteurised, Dunedin, New recorded 40% fat) ZealandButtermilk Spray dried Fonterra NZMP Fonterra, 4777 powder buttermilkAuckland. New JR24, powder Zealand J9374

The results of sensory evaluation of these lipid flavour concentratesamples is shown below in Table 8. In all cases the method of theinvention improved the flavour of the starting oils—for example,unpleasant beany flavours found in the canola oil, tallow and coconutoils were not detected in the flavour concentrates. The flavourconcentrates based on milkfat had sweet toffee, caramel and bakedbiscuit flavours. The flavour concentrates based on other oils had moresavoury fried batter and doughnut flavours. A strong fried mushroomflavour was developed in Sample 4. Culturing of the cream used to makethese samples enhanced the flavour profiles of the samples by impartingcultured flavours to the products. These samples illustrate the widerange of flavours that can be generated by the invention.

TABLE 8 Flavour profiles of lipid flavour concentrates Sample AromaComments Flavour Comments Canola Oil Beany, unpleasant Tallow Beany,unpleasant AMF Buttery, creamy Coconut Oil Bland, slightly beany. slightnutty Sample 1 Canola/BMP Sweet/cooked Fried food, fried batter. Sample2 Tallow/Soy Milk Doughnuts, biscuits Cooked, sweet, savoury, oil usedcooking for deep frying Sample 3 AMF/Soy Milk Sweet/cooked Likebiscuits, crackers, baked Sample 4 Coconut Fried mushrooms Roastpeanuts, fried mushrooms, Oil/Orange Juice/Gluten crispy bits in fryingpan. Sample 5 AMF/Cream Caramel/toffee Caramel, toffee, fudge, bakedbiscuit. Slight scorched. Sample 6 AMF/BMP Caramel/cultured Cookedbiscuit, caramel, cultured Sample 7 Canola/Cream Fried batter Friedbatter. plastic

The starting lipid materials used in this example and the lipid favourconcentrate samples produced as described above were analysed forflavour compounds using the method outlined in Example 1. The results ofthe analyses of the starting lipid materials are shown in Table 9 below,while the results of the analyses of the various flavour concentratesamples are shown in Table 10 below.

TABLE 9 Flavour chemistry analysis - starting lipid material Compound(μg/g) Canola Oil Tallow Coconut Oil 3-Methylbutanal <LOD 0.3 <LODPentan-2-one 0.7 2.3 0.4 Heptan-2-one 0.2 0.4 0.1 Acetol 0.2 1.1 0.4Furfural  0.03  0.05  0.02 DHHD <LOD <LOD <LOD Maltol  0.72 1.5 0.5Furaneol <LOD <LOD <LOD

TABLE 10 Flavour chemistry analysis - flavour concentrates CompoundSample (μg/g) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3-Methylbutanal 0.49 9.5 1.9 0.3 2.1 1.7 2.6Pentan-2-one 0.1 0.3 1.7 0.1 1.2 6.2 0.4 Heptan-2-one 0.1 0.1 13 0.2 1.516 8.8 Acetol 6.2 8.2 8.8 10 7.7 15 6.8 Furfural 8.6 0.55 0.44 4.7 4.98.2 4.9 DHHD 0.09 <LOD <LOD 7.5 1.5 1.4 2.1 Maltol 21 8.8 7.7 2.3 14 1714 Furaneol 0.84 0.16 0.18 0.12 0.76 0.96 0.75

As can be seen in Tables 9 & 10, the method of the inventionsubstantially increased the levels of key flavour chemicals in thesamples in comparison with the parent oils. In particular, high levelsof maltol were observed in Sample 1, high levels of DHHD were observedin Sample 4, a high level of 3-methylbutanol was observed in Sample 1,and high levels of furfural were observed in Samples 1 and 4 and thosederived from milkfat (Samples 5-7).

Example 8 Preparation of Lipid, Condensed and Solids FlavourConcentrates

This example describes the preparation of lipid, condensed and solidsflavour concentrates using a process in which the second heating step isconducted at a temperature lower than the first heating step. A batchprocess with external heating was used, where the aqueous material wasintroduced before the heat exchanger, as described above with referenceto FIG. 3 and as shown in FIG. 4.

45 kg of molten Anhydrous Milkfat derived from whey cream (FonterraCo-operative Group Limited, NZ) was placed in the holding vessel and wascirculated by the circulation pump at approximately 2500 kg/hour. Steamwas applied to the heat exchangers and the lipid material was heated to120° C. The back-pressure valve was set to 300 kPa. When the temperatureof the lipid material at the exit of the heat exchangers reached 120°C., the aqueous pump was turned on and 45 kg of pasteurised cream (40%fat) at 40° C. was added at a flow rate of 55-60 kg/hour. Vapour wasextracted from the reaction vessel and condensed using a heat exchangercooled using cold water, as depicted in FIG. 4. This condensate wascollected as a condensed flavour concentrate. The temperature wasmaintained at 120° C. during addition and subsequently maintained at120° C. for approximately 5 minutes after all the cream had been added.

The temperature of the mixture was then allowed to fall to 115° C. andsamples were packed off after holding at 115° C. for 0, 5, 10, 20, 30and 40 minutes. Samples were cooled in ice water on removal.

The samples were then held for several hours in an oven at 50° C. andallowed to settle. The substantially clear lipid phase was then decantedfrom the top of the samples to produce lipid flavour concentrates. Thesediment layers were retained as solids flavour concentrates.

Flavour profiles of the solids flavour concentrates were evaluated bydispersing 4 g (8%) of the solids into 46 g of Nestle HighlanderSweetened Condensed Milk (Auckland, New Zealand) with a spoon. Dispersalin this way was chosen as a good way to evaluate the cooked flavournotes of the solids flavour concentrates, and was exemplary ofapplications similar to a caramel sauce. The lipid flavour concentrateswere melted and evaluated for flavour without addition or furthermodification.

Table 11 below shows that solids flavour concentrate imparted desirablecaramel and Russian fudge flavours into the sweetened condensed milk.Increased holding time at 115° C. gave stronger fudge flavours and adarker colour. Table 11 also shows a progression of flavour and aroma ofthe lipid flavour concentrates from buttery thorough caramel to bakedbiscuit with increasing holding time at 115° C. The condensed flavourconcentrate had a strong aroma of blue cheese with cooked and cowynotes.

TABLE 11 Flavour profiles of flavour concentrates Sample # (HoldingLipid Flavour Solids Flavour Time, min) Concentrate Concentrate Sample 1Aroma—Mild caramel Mild caramel flavour. (0 Minutes) Flavour—Morebuttery Richer and sweeter than AMF than plain sweetened condensed milk.Sample 2 Aroma—Mild caramel Similar to above but (5 Minutes)Flavour—Rich Buttery stronger. Slight flavour, stronger than Russianfudge flavour. #1. Slight caramel Sample 3 Stronger caramel aromaRussian fudge flavour (10 Minutes) and flavour than Sample 2 Sample 4Stronger caramel aroma Strong Russian fudge (20 Minutes) and flavourthan Sample 4 flavour Sample 5 Aroma—Moderate caramel Stronger Russianfudge (30 Minutes) Flavour—Moderate caramel. flavour than Sample 4.Malt. Sample 6 Aroma—Moderate caramel Stronger Russian fudge (40Minutes) Flavour—Moderate caramel. flavour than Sample 5. Baked biscuit.Slight scorched

Table 12 below shows that the levels of key flavour compounds in thelipid flavour concentrate increased progressively with longer holdingtimes at 115° C. Without wishing to be bound by theory, this is believedto be a result of the flavour producing reactions becoming moreadvanced. The levels of the flavour compounds were generally lower thanthose observed in Samples 2 and 4 from Example 1 above, despite muchlonger holding times. Again without wishing to be bound by any theory,this suggests that flavour development reactions occur more slowly at115° C. than at 135° C., and that holding times at 115° C. need to belonger than 40 min to achieve the same levels of flavour compounds asare achieved in the relatively short holding times at 135° C.

TABLE 12 Flavour chemistry analysis of lipid flavour concentrates SampleCompound 1 3 4 5 6 (μg/g) 0 min 10 min 20 min 30 min 40 min3-Methylbutanal <LOD <LOD <LOD 1.4 3.0 Pentan-2-one 2.0 1.4 1.1 1.3 1.2Heptan-2-one 47 44 36 44 45 Acetol 7.1 9.3 6.2 11 12 Furfural 1.6 2.83.5 3.9 3.9 DHHD <LOD <LOD 0.04 0.50 0.53 Maltol 1.7 3.8 11 13 14Furaneol 0.16 0.36 0.54 0.61 0.56

Table 13 below shows that the solid concentrate had similar levels offlavour compounds as those of the lipid flavour concentrate describedabove, with the exception of maltol which was present at higherconcentration than in the corresponding lipid concentrate. Table 13 alsoshows significant levels of heptan-2-one and, furfural and maltol werepresent in the condensed flavour concentrate. The heptan-2-one is likelyto be responsible for the blue cheese odour of this material.

TABLE 13 Flavour chemistry analysis of solids and condensed flavourconcentrates Compound (μg/g) Solids Condensate 3-Methylbutanal 2.4 <LODPentan-2-one 1.7    0.1 Heptan-2-one 44   4 Acetol 6.9 <LOD Furfural 3.1~1 DHHD 0.21 <LOD Maltol 11 ~5 Furaneol 0.28 <LOD

Example 9 Use of Flavour Concentrates in Chocolate

This example describes an investigation of the use of flavourconcentrates of the present invention as flavouring agents in chocolate.Traditional milk chocolate is manufactured using “crumb”. Crumb istypically manufactured through the addition of cocoa liqueur tosweetened concentrated milk and the application of heat to forceMaillard browning reactions that result in the caramelised flavoursdesired by consumers of milk chocolate. Traditional crumb processes arehighly energy dependent, expensive, and typically require significantinfrastructure close to a milk supply. The flavouring concentrates ofthe present invention have the potential to replicate caramel flavourspresent in crumb chocolate without the significant burden of a crumbprocess.

Similar flavours in chocolate to those generated by the Crumb processcan also be achieved by using pre-caramelised milk powders (referred toas caramelised or confectionery dairy based powders). These also useheating steps in the manufacturing process to force Maillard browningreactions that result in the caramelised flavours desired by consumersof milk chocolate. An example is Fonterra Caramelised Dairy Based Powder(referred to herein as CDBP)

Methods

Milk chocolate consumers (n=39) were recruited to attend two sessions atFonterra Research Centre. In the first session consumers were given aset of 13 milk chocolate samples which included commercial milkchocolate, chocolate with an exemplary flavour concentrate of theinvention (exemplary flavour composition 300, also referred to herein asDF300) added, and chocolate with commercial flavours added to impartcaramel, buttery, creamy and milky flavours, as set forth below and inTable 14.

The following milk chocolates were used in this trial:

-   -   1. a commercial chocolate formulated with Fonterra Caramelised        Dairy Based Powder (CDBP),    -   2. a commercial manufacture of the same formulation with        standard WMP, and    -   3. a commercial manufacture of the same formulation with        standard WMP and 2% exemplary flavour composition 300 (referred        to subsequently as DF 300)        (These chocolates were standardised for fat content in their        formulation using anhydrous milkfat).

Commercially available chocolate was melted. Flavourings, and exemplaryflavour concentrate of the invention (DF300) was added to a subset ofsamples, and then poured into moulds. Once set the chocolate was flakedusing a food processor. Consumers tasted the samples of flaked chocolatewhich were presented in blind-coded pottles with spoons.

Consumers sorted these samples into groups based on similarity offlavour and commented on the key flavours of each group. In the secondsession the consumers rated the intensity of the top ten key flavours(descriptors) of six of the thirteen samples in an incomplete blockdesign, to limit their fatigue.

Statistical analysis of the sorting data (multidimensional scaling, MDS)and the descriptor intensity data (ANOVA) produced a perceptual mapwhich described where the samples sat in space compared to one another,and a comparison of the intensities of the key flavours in each of thesamples.

TABLE 14 Summary of sample treatments Choc- olate Cocoa Label baseFlavouring bean origin A &G 1 Caramelised milk powder Ghana B 1 4%exemplary flavour composition 300 Ghana F & J 1 2% exemplary flavourcomposition 300 Ghana D 3 No added flavour (WMP base) Ghana E 2 0.22%Firmenich Milk S flavour Madagascar C 2 No added flavour (WMP base)Madagascar H 2 0.07% Firmenich Milk Caramel 502590 Madagascar A7 flavourI 2 0.18% Firmenich Cream S flavour Madagascar K 2 4% exemplary flavourcomposition 300 Madagascar L 2 1.5% Butter buds dried cream extractMadagascar M 2 0.6% Edlong Butter flavour Madagascar

Results

When a commercial chocolate made using CDBP was compared to chocolatemade with standard WMP with 2% exemplary flavour composition 300 added,the addition of DF300 did not impart milky, buttery, creamy or chocolateintensities in excess of those perceived in the commercial chocolateformulation, as can be seen in FIG. 5. This demonstrated a closerflavour match to the commercial chocolate formulation compared withusing standard WMP.

The consumer's placement of the chocolate samples relative to oneanother in the perceptual map (see the lower right-hand quadrant of MDSmap, FIG. 6) indicated that the chocolate formulated with 2% DF300 wasalso a close flavour match to the commercial chocolate formulation.

Trained sensory panel descriptive analysis (by Applicant's internaltrained panel) indicated increasing the content of exemplary flavourcomposition DF300 in a mixture of DF300 and Anhydrous milkfat (AMF) didnot increase the intensity of buttery/creamy flavours of the system.Hence exemplary flavour composition DF300 did not impart any buttery orcreamy flavours to this system (FIG. 7).

Example 10 Use of Various Flavour Concentrates in Chocolate Introduction

This example describes an investigation of the flavour landscape of milkchocolate by presenting a range of milk chocolates available for sale inNew Zealand to a group of 42 consumers, to which exemplary flavourconcentrates of the invention were added to two of the six commercialbrands evaluated, referred to as Brand A and B.

Commercial Brand A and B are known to be manufactured using CDBP, andthe Crumb process, respectively.

Methods

Commercially available chocolate was melted, flavourings, and exemplaryflavour concentrates of the invention (DF300, DF400) were added to asubset of samples, and then poured into moulds. Once set the chocolatewas flaked using a food processor. Consumers tasted the samples offlaked chocolate which were presented in blind-coded pottles withspoons.

Consumers sorted 12 samples in to groups based on similarity of flavour,and then on the second night they rated the intensity of 12 flavours(descriptors) for 8 of the 12 samples in an incomplete block design.Consumers were free to apply their own definitions of each flavour theymeasured. Samples were presented blind and identified only by 3-digitcodes. The consumers were screened for milk chocolate consumption andability to describe differences in milk chocolate flavours.

Results

FIG. 8 presents the consumer sensory profiles of Brands A and B, and thesamples of each which include exemplary flavour concentrate DF300. Fromthis the difference made by the addition of exemplary flavourconcentrates of the invention can be clearly seen.

-   -   Both exemplary flavour compositions DF300 and DF400 were added        to Brand A, and as the charts in FIG. 8 show, altered the        consumer sensory profile of Brand A.    -   Brand B flavour intensity was increased by the addition at 2% of        the exemplary flavour concentrates DF300.

The mean consumer caramel flavour intensity is presented in FIG. 9. Theaddition of exemplary flavour concentrates of the invention increasedthe caramel intensity, with the largest increase from the addition of 2%DF 400. As described above, caramel is the key flavour associated withthe crumb process.

Bitterness was reduced in Brand A with the addition of exemplary flavourconcentrates of the invention, as shown in FIG. 10. The rate of additionof DF300 or DF400 between 2-4% did not appear to have affected thereduction in bitterness.

Example 11 Introduction

This example describes two trials to investigate the consumer liking andsensory characteristics of prototype milk chocolates containingexemplary flavour composition 300 compared to Brand A Milk Chocolateformulation.

The key comparison in these trials was between the usual Brand Aformulation which contains CDBP) used to impart caramel flavour to thechocolate, and an alternate formulation containing 2% exemplary flavourconcentrate DF300 together with a standard Fonterra whole milk powder(WMP). As described herein, the production of caramel flavours are animportant benefit of the chocolate ‘crumb’ process which is usedextensively worldwide to manufacture milk chocolate. Brand A is notmanufactured from ‘crumb’, but rather uses CDBP to assist in impartingthese desirable flavours to the chocolate.

Methods Acceptability and Attribute Intensity Testing

In both trials the acceptability and key consumer descriptors of eachchocolate sample was measured. The trials tested if the acceptabilityand descriptor intensities were the same for each chocolate formulation.Open-ended like and dislike questions were also posed, to allowrespondents to comment on anything not covered by the descriptorquestions.

Consumer descriptors:

-   -   Flavours: chocolate flavour intensity, sweetness, creaminess and        caramel intensity (Trial 3 only)    -   Textures: creaminess and in-mouth residue (mouthcoating)        Consumer Acceptability: overall liking, flavour liking, texture        liking

Samples of the general population of milk chocolate consumers were usedto test the chocolate (Table 16). Chocolate consumption data (frequencyand preferred brand) was also collected.

TABLE 16 Number of respondents in Trials 2 and 3 Number of respondents(n) Population Trial 2 Trial 3 General 64 250 Brand A purchasers 24 110High frequency consumers (>1 weekly) 42 120

The questionnaire used in these studies is illustrated in FIG. 11.

Data analysis was carried out by ANOVA (General Linear Model) on thegeneral population data and the sub-groups of interest (those whopreferred Brand A and the high frequency consumers >1 weekly).

Samples:

Consumers received two blind-coded samples of chocolate, being twosquares (from within a block) of each sample of chocolate in foil bagswhich were presented in balanced order. Participants evaluated thesamples and recorded their responses into an electronic questionnaire(Sawtooth software).

Trial 2:

In Trial 2, 64 consumers compared two hand-tempered bench scalechocolate samples which were standardised for fat content using locallysourced standard anhydrous milk fat (AMF):

-   -   1. Brand A standard commercial formulation using CDBP 2. Brand A        standard formulation in which 2% exemplary flavour composition        DF300 and standard WMP replaced the CDBP.

Trial 3:

In Trial 3, 250 consumers compared a sample of Brand A Milk chocolatecontaining standard WMP and 2% exemplary flavour composition DF300 toBrand A milk chocolate purchased from a retail store.

The exemplary flavour composition DF300 product was made with an overalllower milk fat content (WMP 26.8%) compared to the standard product madewith typical 29.5% fat CDBP. This equates to a 10% reduction in totalmilk fat. Neither AMF nor Cocoa butter was added to make chocolate ofequivalent fat content in this trial. Thus, this trial also investigatedthe use of flavour concentrates of the present invention in thepreparation of lower fat chocolate without compromised sensorycharacteristics.

Results Trial 2 Findings Overall Chocolate Acceptability

There was no statistical difference observed in preference between thechocolate comprising standard WMP and exemplary flavour compositionDF300 compared with the commercial milk chocolate formulation at p<0.05(data not shown).

No difference in either overall liking or flavour liking was observedbetween the chocolate formulations within the populations analysed(general population (n=64), Brand A consumers (n=24) and high frequencyconsumers (n=42), Table 17).

Texture liking was slightly higher for the standard chocolate comparedto the chocolate comprising exemplary flavour composition DF300 for boththe general population and high frequency consumers (Table 17).

Influence of Ingredients on Flavour and Texture Attributes

Chocolate and creamy flavour intensity and sweetness were equivalent forthe exemplary flavour composition 300 and standard formulations for allpopulations (Table 17). Also, creamy texture was slightly more intensein the standard formulation compared to exemplary flavour composition300 for the general population (Table 19).

High frequency consumers found the chocolate comprising exemplaryflavour composition DF300 slightly more mouthcoating than the standardchocolate (Table 17).

TABLE 17 Summary of Consumer Sensory Testing Data - Trial 2 Trial 2Bench Scale Exemplary flavour Standard composition DF300 Formulationformulated Overall liking General population 6.9 6.6 Brand A'spurchasers 7.0 6.6 High frequency consumers 6.9 6.8 Flavour likingGeneral population 6.7 6.5 Brand A's purchasers 6.8 6.4 High frequencyconsumers 6.7 6.7 Flavour Chocolate General population 5.8 5.7attributes Brand A's purchasers 5.8 5.9 High frequency consumers 5.8 5.7Sweetness General population 5.5 5.4 Brand A's purchasers 5.6 5.5 Highfrequency consumers 5.7 5.6 Creaminess General population 6.3 6.1 BrandA's purchasers 6.5 6.2 High frequency consumers 6.3 6.4 Texture likingGeneral population 6.7^(a) 6.1^(b) Brand A's purchasers 6.9 6.0 Highfrequency consumers 6.7^(a) 6.1^(b) Texture Creaminess Generalpopulation 6.4^(a) 6.0^(b) attributes Brand A's purchasers 6.7 6.1 Highfrequency consumers 6.3 6.2 Mouthcoating General population 5.0 5.3Brand A's purchasers 5.4 6.1 High frequency consumers 5.1^(b) 5.6^(a)Differing superscript letters indicate significant difference at p <0.05 within that row for a particular trial.

Trial 3 Findings: Overall Chocolate Acceptability:

There was no statistical difference observed in either overall liking orflavour liking between the chocolate formulations within the populationsanalysed (general population (n=250), Brand A consumers (n=110) and highfrequency consumers (n=120), Table 18).

Texture liking was slightly higher for the standard formulation in thegeneral population and all populations perceived the standardformulation to have a slightly more creamy texture, as well as moretendency to coat the mouth (Table 18). The chocolate comprising standardWMP and exemplary flavour composition DF300 had approximately 10% lessmilk fat than the commercial milk chocolate to which it was compared.This reduction in milk fat to cocoa butter ratio can increase thehardness of the chocolate, and the decreased fat content can decreasethe smoothness of the chocolate. Applicants believe, without wishing tobe bound by any theory, that the higher fat content in the standardchocolate may have caused the higher texture scores for mouth coatingand creaminess for all consumers (Table 18). Applicants believe, againwithout wishing to be bound by any theory, that this is responsible (atleast in part) for the texture liking differences.

The textural differences and causal factors described above are assessedas the reason behind the standard formulation having a statisticallysignificant preference difference (p<0.05) over the chocolate comprisingstandard WMP and exemplary flavour composition DF300 at 58.5% to 41.5%respectively.

Influence of Ingredients on Flavour and Texture Attributes

The standard formulation was perceived to have slightly more chocolateand creamy flavour intensity than the chocolate comprising exemplaryflavour composition DF300 (Table 18). Again, the higher fat content inthe standard commercial chocolate is believed by Applicants, againwithout wishing to be bound by any theory, of having influenced theseresults. Sweetness was slightly increased in the chocolate comprisingstandard WMP and exemplary flavour composition DF300 compared to thestandard formulation for the general population (Table 18).

TABLE 18 Summary of Consumer Sensory Testing Data - Trial 3 Trial 3Commercial Plant EXEMPLARY FLAVOUR COMPOSITION Standard DF300 formulatedOverall liking General population 6.7 6.6 Brand A's purchasers 6.8 6.7High frequency consumers 6.9 6.8 Flavour liking General population 6.56.5 Brand A's purchasers 6.7 6.5 High frequency consumers 6.7 6.7Flavour Chocolate General population 5.8^(a) 5.3^(b) attributes BrandA's purchasers 6.1^(a) 5.5^(b) High frequency consumers 5.8^(a) 5.3^(b)Sweetness General population 5.2^(b) 5.7^(a) Brand A's purchasers 5.65.9 High frequency consumers 5.5 5.8 Creaminess General population5.7^(a) 5.4^(b) Brand A's purchasers 5.9^(a) 5.3^(b) High frequencyconsumers 5.9^(a) 5.4^(b) Texture liking General population 6.7^(a)6.3^(b) Brand A's purchasers 6.7 6.5 High frequency consumers 6.7 6.5Texture Creaminess General population 5.8^(a) 5.4^(b) attributes BrandA's purchasers 5.9^(a) 5.4^(b) High frequency consumers 5.9^(a) 5.4^(b)Mouthcoating General population 5.1^(a) 4.6^(b) Brand A's purchasers5.3^(a) 4.7^(b) High frequency consumers 5.1^(a) 4.5^(b) Differingsuperscript letters indicate significant difference at p < 0.05 withinthat row for a particular trial.

As shown in Table 19 below, the chocolate comprising standard WIMP andexemplary flavour composition DF300 had an equivalent intensity ofcaramel flavour to the standard chocolate formulation (p<0.05). That is,the inclusion of exemplary flavour composition DF300 has contributedsimilar caramel flavour characteristics to the chocolate compared withthe use of CDBP.

TABLE 19 Trial 3 Caramel Flavour intensity Caramel Flavour IntensityDairy Flavour 300 Standard formulated, lower fat General population (n =121) 4.8^(a) 4.5^(a) Brand A's purchasers (n = 50) 4.6^(a) 4.3^(a) Highfrequency consumers (n = 62) 4.6^(a) 4.6^(a) Differing superscriptletters indicate significant difference at p < 0.05 within that row fora particular trial.

Conclusions

These examples shows that flavour concentrates of the present inventioncan substitute for Fonterra Caramelised Dairy Based Powder (CDBP) withrespect to improving the caramel flavour intensity of chocolate, and mayallow the preparation of chocolates having lower fat content whileretaining desirable flavour. The examples also show that inclusion ofexamples of the exemplary flavour compositions increases the caramelflavour characteristics commonly associated with the crumb flavour inchocolate formulations made with CDBP to levels commonly associated withchocolate made using the crumb process.

Example 12 Use of Exemplary Flavour Concentrates in ConfectionIntroduction

This example investigates the use of exemplary flavour concentrate DF400as a flavouring agent in nougat.

Method

Egg whites were placed in a mixing bowl and whipped to thick foam. Thehot sugars were then added to the whipped egg whites while stillwhipping. The mixer whisk was then changed to a paddle and the palm fat(control), or DF400, fruit and nuts were added to the mixture.

The nougat was then placed on a silicon baking mat that was covered inan icing sugar and corn flour layer. The nougat was spread out and thena mix of icing sugar and corn flour was sifted on top and the nougatrolled out. The nougat was allowed to set for >24 hrs and then cut fortasting.

Ingredients

Castor sugar 30.2% Glucose syrup 6.6% Invert sugar 18.1% Egg whites 7.3%Caster sugar 1.5% Slivered almonds 11.2% Dried cranberries 6.6% DF400,or Palm fat 6.6% Water 16.3%

Tasting

The samples were cut up and presented blind to an expert taste panel.

Results

The flavour comments were recorded as:

a) Palm fat sample (control): Sugar, not oily, bland,

b) DF 400 sample: Sweet, oily, butter scotch, butter, ghee, more rounded

The samples were then presented to the expert panel to score on a 0-9point scale and ranked out of 9 for flavour characteristics: On thisscoring system, 0=Absent and 9=intense

Average Score

Sample Butterscotch Caramel Buttery DF 400 5 2.7 4 Palm fat 1 0.5 0.3

CONCLUSION

The nougat made with the DF 400 had a distinctly different flavourprofile to the nougat made with the palm fat. In particular, it had hadmore butterscotch, caramel, and buttery flavours.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION

The flavour concentrates produced by the methods of the presentinvention have improved flavour and other characteristics and have wideapplication in the production of foods and beverages, particularly thosewhere traditional flavour sources such as butter or ghee are used.

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to elementsor integers having known equivalents, then such equivalents are includedas if they were individually set forth.

1. Use of one or more flavour concentrates as a flavouring agent inchocolate or confectionery, wherein the one or more flavour concentratesis any one or more of a condensed flavour concentrate, a solids flavourconcentrate, or has been prepared in a method of making a flavourconcentrate comprising a) providing a lipid material, b) providing anaqueous material, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars andone or more primary or secondary amines, c) heating the lipid materialto a first temperature at or above the boiling point of the aqueousmaterial, d) admixing the heated lipid material and the aqueousmaterial, and e) maintaining the mixture for a period at a temperatureat least until substantially all the water present in the aqueousmaterial is vapourised, f) recovering the mixture; wherein when presentthe condensed flavour concentrate has been prepared in a method ofmaking a flavour concentrate comprising i. heating a lipid material to afirst temperature, the lipid material being substantially free ofprotein or water or both protein and water, ii. adding an aqueousmaterial to the heated lipid material to form a mixture, the aqueousmaterial comprising one or more sugars and one or more proteins, andoptionally one or more lipids, the first temperature being above theboiling point of the aqueous material, wherein at least some of thewater present in the aqueous material is vapourised, iii. extracting thevapour produced in step (b) and iv. condensing the vapour to form thecondensed flavour concentrate, and wherein when present the solidsflavour concentrate has been prepared in a method comprising (1)providing a lipid material, (2) providing an aqueous material, theaqueous material comprising one or more sugars and one or more freeamine groups, (3) heating the lipid material to a first temperature ator above the boiling point of the aqueous material, (4) admixing theheated lipid material and the aqueous material, (5) maintaining themixture for a period at a temperature at least until substantially allthe water present in the aqueous material is vapourised, (6) separatingthe solids from the mixture to form the solids flavour concentrate. 2.The use of claim 1 wherein the temperature at which the mixture ismaintained in step (e) is at or about the first temperature, or isanother temperature below or above the first temperature.
 3. The use ofclaim 1 additionally comprising after step (e) the step: g) maintainingthe mixture for a second period at a second temperature that isdifferent to the first temperature.
 4. The use of claim 1 additionallycomprising after step (e) the step: f) maintaining the mixture for asecond period at or about the first temperature.
 5. The use of claim 1wherein the aqueous material is heated at or to at least about 60degrees Celsius prior to admixture.
 6. The use of claim 1 wherein thelipid material comprises one or more of the group consisting of anedible oil, an animal fat, a dairy fat, a fish oil, a modified edibleoil, a modified animal fat, a modified dairy fat, anhydrous milk fat ora mixture thereof.
 7. The use of claim 1 wherein the one or more primaryor secondary amines in the aqueous material are present as one or moreof the group consisting of one or more amino acids, one or morepeptides, or one or more proteins.
 8. The use of any one of claim 1wherein the aqueous material additionally comprises one or more lipids.9. The use of claim 1 wherein the aqueous material is uncooked aqueousmaterial.
 10. The use of claim 1 wherein the aqueous material isselected from the group comprising soy bean milk, soy bean protein, or areconstituted, recombined, fermented or fresh dairy material.
 11. Theuse of claim 10 wherein the dairy material is selected from the groupcomprising recombined or fresh whole milk, recombined or fresh skimmilk, reconstituted whole milk powder, reconstituted skim milk powder,skim milk concentrate, skim milk retentate, concentrated milk, culturedmilk, yoghurt, kefir, ultrafiltered milk retentate, milk proteinconcentrate, milk protein isolate, calcium depleted milk proteinconcentrate, low fat milk, low fat milk protein concentrate, casein,caseinate, cream, cultured cream, butter milk, butter serum, a dairyfermentate, whey, whey cream, whey protein concentrate, or cultured wheycream.
 12. The use of claim 10 wherein the aqueous material is acultured dairy material.
 13. The use of claim 12 wherein the culturesource is a fermentate produced using acid-producing bacteria.
 14. Theuse of claim 1 wherein one or more of the flavour concentrates comprisesone or more flavour characteristics selected from toffee flavour,butterscotch flavour, baked biscuit flavour, caramel flavour, and maltflavour, flavours associated with roasted nuts, heated/roasted popcorn,fried potato chips, baked unleavened breads, flavours associated withroasted meat or cooked pizza, or a blue cheese flavour.
 15. Use of oneor more flavour concentrates as a flavouring agent in chocolate orconfectionery, wherein the one or more flavour concentrates comprises acooked mixture of a lipid material and an aqueous material, wherein thelipid material is selected from the group comprising one or more dairyfats, one or more dairy oils, one or more animal fats, one or moreanimal oils, one or more vegetable fats, or one or more vegetable oils,and a combination thereof, the aqueous material comprises one or moresugars and one or more free amine groups, and optionally one or morelipids, and wherein the composition comprises at least one of thecompounds selected from the group consisting of 10-100 μg/g furfural,0.1-10 μg/g 3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-ene-2,5-dione, 10-100 μg/g maltol, 0.1-10μg/g furaneol, 2.5-30 μg/g acetol, 1-5 μg/g pentan-2-one, 1-35 μg/gheptan-2-one, 0.1-100 μg/g 3-methylbutanal, or 0.1-10 μg/g2-methylbutanal.
 16. A chocolate or confection comprising one or moreflavour concentrates wherein the one or more flavour concentrates is anyone or more of a condensed flavour concentrate, a solids flavourconcentrate, or has been prepared in a method of making a flavourconcentrate comprising a) providing a lipid material, b) providing anaqueous material, the aqueous material comprising one or more sugars andone or more primary or secondary amines, c) heating the lipid materialto a first temperature at or above the boiling point of the aqueousmaterial, d) admixing the heated lipid material and the aqueousmaterial, and e) maintaining the mixture for a period at a temperatureat least until substantially all the water present in the aqueousmaterial is vapourised, f) recovering the mixture; wherein when presentthe condensed flavour concentrate has been prepared in a method ofmaking a flavour concentrate comprising i. heating a lipid material to afirst temperature, the lipid material being substantially free ofprotein or water or both protein and water, ii. adding an aqueousmaterial to the heated lipid material to form a mixture, the aqueousmaterial comprising one or more sugars and one or more proteins, andoptionally one or more lipids, the first temperature being above theboiling point of the aqueous material, wherein at least some of thewater present in the aqueous material is vapourised, iii. extracting thevapour produced in step (b) and iv. condensing the vapour to form thecondensed flavour concentrate. and wherein when present the solidsflavour concentrate has been prepared in a method comprising (1)providing a lipid material, (2) providing an aqueous material, theaqueous material comprising one or more sugars and one or more freeamine groups, (3) heating the lipid material to a first temperature ator above the boiling point of the aqueous material, (4) admixing theheated lipid material and the aqueous material, (5) maintaining themixture for a period at a temperature at least until substantially allthe water present in the aqueous material is vapourised, (6) separatingthe solids from the mixture to form the solids flavour concentrate. 17.A chocolate or confection comprising one or more flavour concentrateswherein the one or more flavour concentrates comprises a cooked mixtureof a lipid material and an aqueous material, wherein the lipid materialis selected from the group comprising one or more dairy fats, one ormore dairy oils, one or more animal fats, one or more animal oils, oneor more vegetable fats, or one or more vegetable oils, and a combinationthereof, the aqueous material comprises one or more sugars and one ormore free amine groups, and optionally one or more lipids, and whereinthe composition comprises at least one of the compounds selected fromthe group consisting of 10-100 μg/g furfural, 0.1-10 μg/g3,4-dihydroxyhex-3-ene-2,5-dione, 10-100 μg/g maltol, 0.1-10 μg/gfuraneol, 2.5-30 μg/g acetol, 1-5 μg/g pentan-2-one, 1-35 μg/gheptan-2-one, 0.1-100 μg/g 3-methylbutanal, or 0.1-10 μg/g2-methylbutanal.
 18. The confection of claim 17 wherein the confectionis or comprises nougat.